


Once Bitten Twice Shy

by noxsoulmate



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, Baker Castiel (Supernatural), Dad!Dean, Dean and Cas are no cheaters, Dean/Cas Tropefest 2017, Destiel will always be my endgame, Difficult Pregnancy, Dom/sub Undertones, Drinking to Cope, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Family Dynamics, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, M/M, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Pining, Pregnancy, Private Investigator Dean Winchester, Private Investigators, Special Family Bonds, family ties, if they would just talk with each other, just trust me, not everything is as it seems, people don't always act rationally, people make mistakes, this could all have been prevented
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-27
Updated: 2017-09-27
Packaged: 2019-01-05 23:41:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 49,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12199599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noxsoulmate/pseuds/noxsoulmate
Summary: The past can hurt, no question there. But what happens when it makes you too suspicious of the present?Dean Winchester catches cheating bastards for a living, no matter how far he has to go to do so. He’s in Heaven when his favorite bakery brand opens a store right in front of his nose because nothing helps him get through a case like a delicious piece of cherry pie. And not only does Angels’ Pie have the best pie in the world, the baker is also one hell of a handsome guy. But if he wants the man in his life, Dean knows he needs to open up about himself, his job, and most importantly the people by his side, before it’s too late. He just doesn’t know how.Castiel Novak has just run away from Chicago and for a good reason. Seeking a fresh start, he does what his family does best and opens a new Angels’ Pie bakery. His handsome new regular is certainly not helping him keep his promise never to date again. Putting his trust in this man means to open his heart again. And his heart has been broken one too many times before.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> A day may come when I finish a long fic and _do not_ have ideas for a sequel - but it is not this day, so be prepared for more in this verse ^^"  
>  A day may also come when I post a challenge fic on my assigned date again - but sadly it is not this day either, although I do have a really good excuse this time: two weeks ago, I broke down and was rushed to the hospital. I am fine now and back home and the lovely Tropefest mods (who deserve all our love and kudos) allowed me to post once I was settled back in <3 thank you so much for that!
> 
> My time in the hospital is also the reason why I haven't replied to your comments lately, for which I'm really sorry - please know that I love reading every single one of them and that I love you <3 I'll reply very soon
> 
>  **Now about this Tropefest**  
>  First of all a huge, huge thank you to my amazing artist [izulkowa](http://izulkowa.tumblr.com/) who created this wonderful [art](http://izulkowa.tumblr.com/post/165721984956/art-for-once-bitten-twice-shy-by-noxsoulmate-the) for my fic. Girl, you not only picked one of my favorite scenes, you also used my favorite color without knowing and your art is simply flawless and perfect. Thank you SO MUCH <3
> 
> [vintagenoise](http://archiveofourown.org/users/vintagenoise/pseuds/vintagenoise), you know I love you <3 without you I would be lost and my fics would be terrible ;)
> 
> Now, I would like to remind all my readers that this is a **Trope** fest - and noxsoulmate **loves** tropes :P noxsoulmate also loves misunderstanding and pining and emotional hurt - but only when there's a happy end on the horizon ;) oh and what noxsoulmate doesn't love is cheating, just saying  <3
> 
> Have fun reading :D  
> 

** **

 

** Prologue **

 

The bottle was taunting him. Three years without a drop of hard liquor, and now it was taunting him again.

Dean wasn’t an alcoholic but there had been a lot of drunken nights in his younger years, including stupid ideas, some regrets, and a shit load of hangovers. Then, one night, one really bitter and hurtful night, he had gotten too drunk to even realize he shouldn’t be driving. It was a good thing he knew his way around tools and cars, otherwise, he would have paid a whole lot of money to get his Baby, his beloved ’67 Chevy Impala back on the road. It was also a good thing he had a nice health insurance, or the hospital bills would have finished what the tree had started: getting him into an early grave.

Ever since, he hadn’t had a drop of hard liquor, just a casual beer here and there when with company. And always with a limit, which his family and friends helped him to keep. But now the bottle of whiskey stood there and taunted him. Taunted him by looking like an old friend, telling him they would take away the pain.

It would be so easy. No one was home, he had the whole house to himself and only his own will to keep him from opening the liquor cabinet. Three years. Was he really willing to let some asshole have enough power over him that he would break and go back to drinking?

That thought finally did it, and Dean pulled his eyes away from the liquor cabinet. Instead of reviving an old friendship, he got his phone out and shot a text to Sam. Not five minutes later he grabbed his keys and left to meet up with his little brother.

As he drove across the town of Lawrence, Kansas, Dean almost had a heart attack: _Pam’s_ , one of Dean’s favorite diners, had closed. And not just for the rest of the day, no. All the windows were covered, only leaving a huge sign visible: **_Thanks for 22 amazing years and Goodbye._** Dean was pretty sure he had tears in his eyes. He had been there for lunch just last week, why hadn’t Pam told him anything? She knew how much he’d loved her burgers and now she was just gone?

“Well fuck my life,” Dean muttered. That made it two people in one day that had broken his heart. And the day was still young, barely evening. Still enough time for other people to jump right in and make his life even more miserable. He continued driving, hoping a meet up with his brother would be enough to keep him away from the bottle.

 

~*~*~*~

 

All over. Three years and this was it.

One last time, Cas looked around the not quite empty room, his last bag in one hand, keys in the other. Three years. Three years of his life had he spent in this apartment, and yet all he wanted to take with him fitted in his car. To his family, he had explained it in a rational way – why pay more for shipping all the furniture halfway across the country than the actual worth of the stuff? In reality, he just didn’t want it. Didn’t want anything that would remind him of Chicago and his time here. A fresh start was all he needed. Again.

Some of his books and some personal belongings. Some of his clothes, but not all. A fresh start would also mean a new wardrobe. So that was it. Three years, packed together in his car, and still some room for hitchhikers. Not that he would pick up someone, but still.

Seeing nothing he would miss, Cas finally left the apartment and closed the door. After handing the keys to his landlord, and taking his security deposit in return, Cas was out of there.

Throwing his bag on the passenger seat – so much for hitchhikers – he put on his sunglasses and was on the road within minutes. Once he passed the city limits of Chicago, he felt like he was able to breathe again for the first time in almost two weeks.

His phone buzzed, and since it could be one of his siblings asking if he had left yet, he checked it.

 

_[Inias 10:44 am] Where r u? Can we talk?_

 

“Fuck you.”

Checking the traffic around him, Cas pulled over to the side of the road, took off his glasses, and without reading the text again he blocked Inias’ number and deleted it from his phone. Nothing changed, the world kept moving on, and this little act felt kind of insignificant. Especially compared to giving up his entire life in Chicago just to get away from the guy. But just like crossing the city line, it also felt liberating in some ways.

He shot a quick text to his favorite brother, Gabriel, letting him know he was on his way. Then he put his glasses back on, switched the radio to a rock station and with Led Zeppelin’s epic song _Ramble On_ blasting from the speakers, he finally left his old life behind for good.


	2. Chapter 1: Love at First Bite

** Chapter 1: Love at First Bite **

 

Drumming on the steering wheel to one of his favorite Led Zeppelin songs, Dean almost missed the ringing of his phone. Tuning the radio down a bit, he noticed the tune of _Heartbeat_ from Bad Company coming from the seat beside him and picked up.

“Hey, Gorgeous.”

_“Hey, Handsome.”_

Jo’s cheerful voice had Dean smiling. “What’s up? Miss me already?”

_“Always. I have no idea how to survive the day without seeing your pretty face.”_

Chuckling, Dean slowed his Baby down at a red light. “I hope Will’s not with you right now. I would hate for him to learn sarcasm this early on.”

_“No, you’d just hate for him to learn it from me instead of you.”_

“Touché,” Dean admitted, drumming on Baby’s steering wheel, _Ramble On_ still playing in the background. “Now that we have discussed that: What’s up?”

 _“You forgot your lunch,”_ Dean’s eyes flew to the backseat where his suit jacket and briefcase lay. The brown paper lunch bag was indeed absent. _“Just thought I let you know right away, so you can pick something up on the way. And don’t say anything stupid like ‘I could go on a lunch break.’ We both know you wouldn’t do it.”_

“I wasn’t –” Dean let his mouth snap shut. It was kind of scary how well Jo knew him, because yes, he would have told her something along the lines of taking a lunch break and yes, he wouldn’t have gone. Not because he didn’t like lunch (heck, who didn’t like lunch), but because he would be buried so deep in work he’d likely forget. He sometimes even forgot to eat the lunch he brought with him, which was why Jo had asked Charlie and Becky to keep an eye on him when she wasn’t there to do so herself.

The red light switched to green and Dean drove on. Sighing, he gave in. “Thank you. Have I told you lately that I love you and that I don’t know how I would survive without you?” There weren’t many people in Dean Winchester’s life who he said those words to. _I love you_ was not just an empty phrase for him.

Jo’s chuckle was melodic and Dean could hear the background noise of the fridge opening. _“I know, I know. I’m fabulous and you are growing old and forgetful. Now grab yourself some lunch and make sure you eat it.”_

Dean was about to reply when a sign to his right caught his attention. “Holy shit,” he breathed out, searching for a parking spot right away.

_“What’s wrong? Dean, what’s going on, you okay?”_

“Yes, holy hell, Jo. I found Heaven.” He was vaguely aware that he must be sounding like Will on Christmas Morning, but he didn’t care. He finally found a parking spot on the left, pulled in and turned off his car. “Remember _Pam’s_?”

_“That old run-down diner on the way to work? The one that closed about a year ago?”_

“Hey, _Pam’s_ was not run-down. It had style.” Making sure he had his wallet, he jumped out of the car and started jogging back the few yards that lay between the parking spot and his personal Heaven.

 _“If you say so.”_ He could hear Jo’s eye-roll but chose to ignore it.

“Did I tell you that just a few weeks ago someone bought it and they started renovating and all that?”

_“No?”_

“Well, they did, and they kept it a secret what would be in it from now on.”

_“Dean, are you running?”_

“They’re finally done and I just saw the sign,” he went on, ignoring Jo’s question. He reached the intersection and even though the green light for pedestrians would switch back to red any second now, he didn’t stop and jogged across the street.

“Jo, you will never guess what it is now.”

_“The way you’re acting and running to get there? My money’s on pie.”_

“Not just any pie”, Dean exclaimed. “ _Angels’ Pie_! Jo, they opened an _Angels’ Pie_ bakery right here, right on our way to work.”

Dean hadn’t lied when he said he’d found Heaven. _Angels’ Pie_ was the best bakery there was in the whole of Lawrence, Kansas. There were only two locations downtown and Dean often drove the whole way into the city just to get some of the best pie to have ever been made. He was even man enough to admit it was better than his own and yes, even better than the one his mom used to make.

 _“Dean!”_ There was laughter in Jo’s voice but Dean already knew there would be a lecture. _“I said buy something for_ lunch _. I didn’t say buy_ dessert _.”_

“But Jo … it’s _Angels’ Pie_. **_Angels’ Pie_**!”

 _“I know you big baby, I heard you the first time. Quit whining and get your pie or the poor_ Hunters _won’t survive the day with your mood. Oh, and Dean: You better get some on the way home for the pregnant mother of your child.”_

“Sure, will do, bye Gorgeous, gotta run now.”

 _“Bye Handsome, don’t forget to get some for the_ Hunters _. I’m sure Donna will love you forever.”_

“Will do, bye.”

Dean ended the call just as he came to a halt in front of the huge window. The inside still had a touch of the old 50s-style diner that it had been before, with booths along the window front and a counter that ran along the opposite side of the window, three bar chairs left to the spacious cashier area. Dean had been here often enough to remember the old diner inch by inch, so he knew that a lot of changes had been made: the tables and counter were of a warm wood with centerpieces of blue tablecloth covered in white clouds, the same style that it was in the other bakeries of _Angels’ Pie_. The seats of the booths not the old screaming-red leather it used to be, but a soft-looking blueish material that Dean knew would feel like sitting on a fluffy cloud. The same material covered the bar chairs. Whoever the owner was, Dean liked them already. Not just because of the pies, but because they seemed to have taken care to keep the charm of the old place, while still giving it the famous _Angels’ Pie_ style. Looking up, Dean saw the familiar sign above the glass door: a fluffy cloud, silver letters reading _Angels’ Pie_ , with a golden halo around the top of the ‘A’ and a pie where the dot of the ‘i’ would be.

He couldn’t see anyone behind the counter yet but there was a sign that read _Yes, we’re open_ , so Dean took the three stairs and pushed open the door. Hearing the familiar sound of bells combined with the sweet smell of pie, Dean knew he just entered Heaven.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Cas looked around, taking it all in. His new workplace wasn’t that huge, but the kitchen was cozy and held a certain charm that the kitchens in their other bakeries had lost a long time ago. This felt more like his mother’s kitchen, where he had first learned to bake a pie, and it gave him a certain sense of warmth and security he hadn’t felt in a long time.

The melody of _Candy Man_ started up, making Castiel cringe. When had Gabriel gotten ahold of his phone? He picked up as quick as he could if only to shut off the song.

“How often do I have to tell you not to play with my phone?”

_“Good morning to you too, brother. And hey, that song totally fits me.”_

Rolling his eyes, Cas decided not to answer. As usual with Gabe, his brother jumped straight to the next topic, not needing an answer anyway.

_“So, how is it? First day busy already?”_

“Gabe, I just opened the store. No, there was no line waiting in front of the door.”

_“Well, you were the one that didn’t want a grand opening –”_

“I didn’t say I was complaining,” Cas replied, opening one of the ovens and checking the pies. They still needed a minute. “Just that nobody’s here yet. And that’s okay. I’m alone anyway, I don’t need to be overrun on the first day.”

_“Michael promised to hire help as soon –”_

“As soon as I have proven that this location’s worthwhile, yeah yeah. Could you please stop annoying me with facts I already know?”

There was a moment of silence, long enough that Cas even checked if his brother had hung up. When Gabe spoke again, his voice was laced with concern.

_“How are you feeling?”_

Sighing, Cas closed his eyes. The last thing he wanted was for Gabriel to worry about him.

“Sorry for being snippy. I’m alright. Just a bit nervous.”

_“Cas, you know it’s okay for you to –”_

“To what, Gabriel?”

_“I don’t know … grieve?”_

“No one died.”

_“Then be angry. Scream, anything – just let it out!”_

“It’s been a year, Gabe. I’m over it.”

_“Cas –”_

“The first customer is here, gotta go.”

Without waiting for a reply, Cas hung up and silenced his phone. There was no customer there yet, but he seriously didn’t want to talk about his ex now. Besides, the pies needed to be taken care of.

Hearing the familiar bells above the door, an excited buzz came over Castiel. This was it. The start to his own bakery, and to proving his siblings that opening a store at this location had been a great idea. He wiped his hands clean, took the tray with the oven-fresh cherry-lemon pies, and left the kitchen. Coming up behind the counter, he saw a man, probably a bit younger than him but in a suit (minus the jacket), looking at one of the pie displays with an expression like a kid on Christmas Morning.

“Good morning,” Castiel greeted the man and suddenly, he was looking into green eyes that reminded him of limes. Maybe he should try a pie creation with limes soon …

“Welcome to _Angels’ Pie_. Have you already decided what you would like?”

“Hey,” Green Eyes replied. “Well, kind of. In the other _Angels’ Pies_ you have this offer where you can have slices of different pies?” He let it sound like a question, indicating just what he wanted without directly asking for it. Castiel knew right away what the stranger was talking about.

“Ah, right. _Pie of Heaven_.” It was one of the specialties of _Angels’ Pie,_ and had been his idea. Eight different slices of pie packed and wrapped up as one big pie. “Yes, I can put one of them together, which flavors would you like?”

“Actually, I would need two. It’s for my employees. Just a bit of everything.”

To say Castiel was intrigued was an understatement. The man couldn’t be older than his late twenties, his very early thirties at the most. And yet he was in a leading position already. One with his own employees and that required wearing a suit. On top of that, he was stunningly handsome, had a charming smile, and a body to die for. Not that Cas was interested, hell no. But one could still appreciate a piece of art without actually buying it. Or dating it. Well, not dating the piece of art, but the handsome man … who he wasn’t interested in, of course.

Putting all thoughts of that aside, Castiel got out two _Pie of Heaven_ boxes and started collecting some pieces. They had a very large range of different tastes at the other bakeries, but for this new location, Castiel had decided to start off with the standard tastes, and only some of the famous combinations. They needed to see what the customers of this area wanted before going wild on the variety. He still had enough to fill two boxes with completely different flavors, while still not having all of them.

“You have no idea how awesome it is that you guys opened up a bakery in this area,” Green Eyes said while Castiel put the last piece of pie in the first box and started on the second. The statement, and the real enthusiasm behind it, was a huge compliment for him and it made him smile. “Thank you. It’s nice to hear that it is appreciated. My siblings weren’t so sure about this location,” he explained, carefully deciding on what flavors to add to the pie box. “I’ve always liked this diner and when I got back to town a few months ago and heard it had closed, I really wanted to buy the place to open another bakery here.”

“Wait, you are one of the owners? One of the Novaks?” The look on the stranger’s face was that of wonder. It was a well-known fact for any regular customer of the _Angels’ Pie_ bakeries that it was a family business, run by the Novaks. When Castiel nodded, the stranger’s smile grew wider. “Have you invented any of the famous flavors?”

“Many, actually,” Castiel admitted a bit shyly. All of the Novak siblings were involved in the family business in some way, but only Gabe and Castiel created the different mixes of flavors. Even while he’d worked in Chicago, he’d swapped ideas with Gabriel and many new creations had come of it. When the stranger’s eyes went wide, Cas smiled and went on: “Cherry and lemon, for example. And the pecan and cinnamon one for Christmas time.”

“Marry me,” Green Eyes blurted out. It was obviously meant as a joke, but Castiel could still feel his ears burning up. “I’m serious, dude. Those are my favorites. The cherry-lemon pie was the first I ever ate in your bakery downtown and it’s the one that got me hooked. Please tell me you have it here.”

“Yes, of course I do.” Castiel finished up with the second _Pie of Heaven_ and closed the box as well, before getting one of the cherry-lemon pies from the tray he had brought from the back. “You want a slice right away? They are still warm.”

Castiel was pretty sure he had never seen more joy in a person’s eyes. And the beautiful thing about it: the stranger seemed to really mean it. Maybe it should be weird that a grown man acted like that over a simple piece of pie, but it wasn’t. In fact, it was really endearing, at least in Castiel’s eyes.

“What kind of question is that? Of course I’ll take one.”

Smiling, Cas cut out an extra big piece of the pie, put it on a plate and handed it over the counter. Instead of sitting down, Green Eyes grabbed a fork from the side counter and took a bite right there. The sound he made as he closed his lips around the bite made Castiel’s brain short-circuit, his eyes fixed on the sinful lips of this handsome man.

“Man, this is the best I’ve ever tasted. Seriously. Please, marry me.”

Chuckling, Cas got busy cutting off another piece of the pie. His first customer deserved an extra piece on the house, right?

The bells above the door chimed again and Castiel saw a young woman enter, three children around her. Right behind that, two elderly gentlemen came in, chatting amicably with each other. He smiled at the new customers and told them that he would be right with them. As he turned to Dean, the man handed him back the half-eaten pie – did he not like it?

“Would you please pack this up? I’ll have to finish it at work.” The smile he gave him showed Cas that he had nothing to worry about. He quickly got out a box large enough to hold the half-eaten piece as well as the extra one, before ringing up only one piece as well as the two _Pies of Heaven_. He was sure this wasn’t the last time he would see Green Eyes; best to treat your new regulars right from the beginning. He packed it all up, added a business card, and handed the paper bag over to the handsome guy.

“Hope to see you again soon.”

“Oh, you bet you will,” the man replied, giving him a little wave before leaving.

Cas spared just one moment to look after him as the man held open the door for the next customer to come in. Once he turned to the mother and her kids, Castiel did not have one moment without a customer for the rest of the morning.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Dean still made it to work in time. Not in the time he usually showed up, of course, but in time to get everything done before the morning meeting with his team.

Charlie was the first to enter their conference room, plopping down in her chair and reaching for the delicious pie. “Please tell me you didn’t come in later because you made a detour. Not that I’m complaining, but you know how busy we are today.”

“Charlie, we’re always busy,” Benny replied before Dean could even say anything, entering the room right behind Asa.

Charlie just shrugged and bit off a big piece of her pie.

“Ohhhh, _Angel’s Pie_ ,” Donna squealed, checking out the pieces. “Boss, you didn’t have to do this but I love you for doing it. Is there a piece of strawberry-chocolate?”

“This looks like it could be,” Ash replied, handing Donna the plate with the pie he just got out of the box. With a gleeful squeal, Donna took the piece and sat down between Jody and Cesar, both smiling about her delight. Jesse put down a piece in front of his husband, Cesar, and after receiving a smile in return sat down with his own piece and dug in.

Once Garth and Kevin were seated as well, Dean looked around the room at his little family before clearing his throat to get their attention.

“Alright, good news first: we now have an _Angel’s Pie_ bakery on my way to work. So be prepared to put in some more workouts in the future because this might just become a regular thing and I can’t have my agents getting fat. Especially not the ones we use for bait.”

Everybody laughed. All too soon, Dean got serious again.

“Okay guys. As Charlie pointed out, we have a busy day ahead of us. I have a meeting with two potential clients later on. I’ll let you know what comes of it. Further, Bela got back to me and she sees a possibility to close her part of the Gert case during the party at the Sea Pines Museum. Garth,” he turned to the quirky guy, who just smiled at him. “I want you to contact her about the details for you to take pictures.”

“Sure thing, boss.”

“Good. Ash, how is the Roman case going?”

“Still nothing new, boss. Sorry. It’s like the bastard knows we’re onto him and is laying low for now.”

“Damnit,” Dean swore, and he wasn’t the only one. They had tried to get some dirt on this Dick Roman guy for weeks now and so far had come up with nothing. His husband Samandriel (who preferred to be called Alfie, for whatever reason) knew he was cheating on him and Dean believed the poor guy. He’d been sobbing and even looked scared when he’d come to them with the plea for help. Thing was that Roman was an influential and charismatic guy who would probably win full custody over their two girls if the _Hunters_ couldn’t prevent it.

“Alright. Charlie, Kevin, I want you to jump in on the case as well. While Ash keeps monitoring his every move, I want you two to dig up dirt on the guy. Everything Sam could use to build a strong case against him. If it’s not the cheating part, find me something that shows that he would be a bad father. No way am I letting a guy like that get custody over these two sweethearts, you hear me?”

“On it, boss,” Charlie replied, and Kevin nodded along while scribbling down some notes.

Dean nodded as well before moving on. “Jody, how far is your team with the Gaines case?”

The meetings usually never took long, all his agents well-experienced enough. He could trust them to run this show even without getting back to him every morning. But it was a nice way of having his little family together at least once a day and for them all to catch up. The Private Investigator job could get lonely pretty quickly otherwise. Dean had found out about that soon enough when he’d taken over _The Hunters_ from his uncle Bobby Singer. It had been a small crew back then, just Bobby, his old partner Rufus, and Bobby’s wife, Karen, who sometimes worked as a receptionist. And Dean, of course, who had been Bobby’s apprentice since he was just sixteen years old. After Karen’s death and Rufus’ retirement, Bobby had handed the business over to Dean the first chance he got. Now he just dropped in when he got bored, and usually helped them solve a case or two.

Dean, merely twenty-two years old back then, had made sure not to end up like Bobby and Rufus. The first thing he’d done was to get Charlie on board and make her his partner. Her expertise when it came to the internet had helped them solve more cases in the past several years than he cared to count. The second step had been to hire a fulltime receptionist so Dean and Charlie and everybody else to come could fully concentrate on the cases. And even though she wasn’t attending their morning-meeting, Becky was just as much a part of this family as the rest of the team. Over time, Dean had hired a lot of good people and now, eight years later, eleven _Hunters_ worked for him, plus some external agents like Bela. They would join them if a job required certain skills.

“Alright, I guess that’s it for today. Let’s catch those sons of bitches.”

As the team packed up their files, some of them taking what was left of the pies, Benny turned to Dean. “How is Jo doing?”

Dean grinned at the thought of Jo. “Getting bigger every day, but if you tell her I said that, they won’t find your body. That goes for all of you.”

“Well, brotha, thing is: if she finds out you said that, it will be your body they won’t find, so it’s just a matter of who’s quicker.”

The whole room laughed, knowing how right Benny was. Jo was one of their best agents and well respected amongst the _Hunters_.

“She’s getting prettier every day as well. She’s doing really good, I think.”

“So no more problems?”

Dean turned towards Jody while he held open the door for them all to leave the conference room. “No. Ever since the doctor ordered her to take it slow, it’s been better. Having you guys as well as Eileen and Sam help her with Will sometimes also helps.” He was eternally thankful that his brother and sister-in-law had decided to move back to Kansas a few years ago. Not only because they were a great help right now, but also because he loved having his brother back home. The fact that Sam was an amazing lawyer was just an added bonus for the _Hunters_.

Donna smiled at him as she left the room and reassured him: “Anytime, Dean. You know we all love your son.”

They quickly scattered after that, all of them busy to get their cases moving. Dean pulled up the material Kevin had found for him on his 11 am meeting and got his cherry pie. When he saw the extra piece – he was pretty sure he hadn’t paid for that one – his thoughts momentarily went back to the cute bakery owner. So the guy was one of the Novaks. And the inventor of most of the flavors. Smiling, Dean took a huge bite.

He would definitely need to start exercising in the mornings.

 

~*~*~*~

 

The first day couldn’t have been better if Cas had asked for it. He hardly had a free minute, and soon was grateful he had decided to get up two hours earlier than planned to get more baking done and lots more pies prepared to throw in the oven if need be. He made sure to write down the flavors customers requested that he didn’t have here yet, and promised to bake some the next day just for them. If his business would boom like that for a few more days, he would be able to have Michael see reason and let him hire some staff.

By five in the afternoon, it slowly died down, giving him more time in between customers to clean up or prepare the things he needed in the morning. He could feel the strain of having been up for so long, but he wanted to keep the shop open until at least seven to see how the afternoon rush shaped out. It wasn’t as much as it had been in the morning, and his last customer came in around a quarter after six. Cas started to pack up all the goods, and at seven, he decided to finally call it a day. A very, very successful day, indeed.

As he went to the door and switched the sign around to _Sorry, we’re closed_ , he saw a beautiful black car park right in front of his store. It wasn’t the car, however, that caught his eyes. It was the guy inside that hurriedly reached for something on the passenger seat – probably his wallet – and got out of the car. Their eyes met, and right away, disappointment was written all over Green Eyes’ face. Confused for just a moment, Cas smiled and switched the sign back around, opening the door for the man.

“So it seems, you’re not only my first customer, but you’ll also be my last of the day.”

“I really don’t wanna keep you.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I still have some pies left. Come on in.”

Cas couldn’t believe the way the man’s face lit up just from being invited inside. He let him pass and closed and locked the door behind them, switching the sign back around again.

“Am I to understand this means you’ll be my first regular?”

“You bet your ass I will be.”

Cas laughed out loud about the man’s blunt way and stuck out his hand. “Well, in that case: hello, I’m Castiel Novak but you can call me Cas.”

“Dean Winchester. You can call me Dean,” the man replied, throwing him a wink.

Chuckling, Cas stepped behind the counter. “I hope your employees liked the pies.”

“They voted me boss of the month, so I guess that’s a yes.”

“Do I need to start a tab and make sure to have extra pies here in the mornings?”

“I sure think so, yes. Can’t risk losing such a title, now can I?”

Besides the fact that Dean loved his pie, Cas had a feeling he would really like seeing him every morning and talking to him. “And what is it I can do for you tonight?”

Surely he wasn’t imaging the quirk of Dean’s lips or the way Dean’s eyes quickly wandered up and down his body, right? The man’s reply, however, was completely innocent.

“Just another pie for now.”

“Of course. Although, sadly I have no more cherry-lemon pie.”

“That’s alright. The two big slices this morning were amazing. Thanks for that.”

“You’re welcome.” Looking at what was left in the display cases, Cas quickly thought about what he had left in the back. “Come to think of it, I don’t have one whole pie left at all. So how about another _Pie of Heaven_? For the price of a regular pie of course.”

“Sure, totally works for me.”

“I do get the feeling you don’t really care about the flavor as long as it’s pie at all,” Cas stated as he got the _Pie of Heaven_ together.

Dean clutched at his heart and let out a fake gasp. “You haven’t even known me for a day and already you know my biggest weakness.”

Yep, he liked this man and his humor.

They talked and laughed for at least another ten minutes, Cas not caring one bit that he was tired and still had to clean up the kitchen before he could go upstairs and fall into his bed. It felt too soon that Dean said his goodbye with the promise of coming back in the morning.

 

~*~

 

Dean kept his promise, and over the next several days, Cas’ business hours started with the wonderful company of Dean Winchester. It wasn’t as if they had much time to talk, but it was enough for Cas to realize that he wouldn’t mind seeing more of the man.

“Someone has a crush,” Meg whispered in his ear, making him jump.

It had taken all of one week for Michael to be convinced that their newest store was indeed a goldmine, and let Cas choose two staff members from their other stores. The decision had been easy since Meg was his oldest friend and Hannah lived close by and was grateful for the relocation. Over time maybe he would get even more staff but for now, it was already a big help.

What was not helpful at all was the fact that Meg had always been able to read him like an open book. Maybe he should have thought of that when he was speaking with Dean today, completely forgetting that his friend was able to watch him even though she was busy with her own customers.

“It’s not a crush. Dean is a regular.”

“Sure thing, angel-boy.”

Glaring at her back as she went into the kitchen, Cas choose to ignore her and served the next customer. At least she had waited until Dean had left. Not like in high school when she had done it _right in front_ of his crush.

He would have to make damn sure that Meg would never find out that his newest creation was inspired by Dean. Kind of. It wasn’t Cas’ fault that he had thought of Dean’s eyes when he’d seen the limes at the market Sunday morning. He couldn’t wait to work on the recipe later and maybe have Dean taste it should he come by after work.

Cas still had no idea what Dean did for a living, never really bothering to ask. He just knew the man did not have regular work hours in the evening, seeing how he had stopped by at completely different times on his way home last week. He decided to ask him should he come in tonight.

The day was still busy but with the additional help, Cas found time to give his new creation a test run. This was a far cry from just any key lime pie, but he would let Dean decide if he thought it was worthy to be added to the collection.

As the hours went by, he feared Dean wouldn’t show up anymore. He sent the girls home around six, taking it upon himself to clean the bakery. They would need to set up a schedule soon, figuring out if and how they could work in shifts. Because Cas might be the boss and he loved to work, but even he wouldn’t survive working about fifteen hours a day for long.

Shortly before seven, the bells chimed and when he looked up, Cas was greeted with the sight of Dean.

“Perfect timing,” Cas commented, handing a pie box to his last customer and waving goodbye to them. “I have some new creations that need testing. Interested?”

“Do you even need to ask?” Dean replied, holding the door open for the elderly lady.

“I guess not,” Cas grinned at him, taking off his apron. “Will you please lock the door and flip the sign? Just come through to the kitchen.”

In the back, Cas quickly prepared the new pie creations and put some forks and plates out. Dean let himself fall into a chair with a heavy sigh.

“Hard time at work?”

“Hard month so far … but yeah, today topped it a bit.”

“I don’t even know yet what it is you do,” Cas said, putting down the first plate with pie.

Tasting a bite, Dean visibly relaxed. “Ever heard of the _Hunters_?”

“Sure. Wait, you’re a _Hunter_?”

“I’m actually _the_ Hunter,” Dean replied, winking at Cas. “I took over the company from my uncle a few years back.”

“Oh wow. Tell me a bit about your cases?”

And Dean did. Not too much because, of course, he was sworn to secrecy after all, as he told Cas right away. He wasn’t allowed to give anything away that could lead to Cas figuring out who his clients were Still, what Dean _was_ able to tell him in between praising the pie had Cas in stitches.

Without even realizing, a whole hour flew by just talking. Cas found that he liked it, much to his despair. He had promised himself to guard his heart better after all that had happened. Despite that, however, Castiel was saddened when he had to say goodbye to Dean for the night. This was not good. So not good. Had he learned nothing from the past? He’d thought he had built a strong wall around his heart and it had worked so far. But Dean Winchester was definitely already poking at that wall.


	3. Chapter 2: Catching Fire

** Chapter 2: Catching Fire **

 

There was no such thing as normal working hours for Dean. If a case needed his attention during the night, he would go. If he needed to work on the weekend, he would. In return, it meant that he valued every free day he could get even more. Like this Saturday. It wasn’t like there was nothing to do at work, but the last few days had been busy as hell and he had been working overtime non-stop, leaving Jo alone with Will. She definitely needed a few quiet hours, and Charlie had basically kicked Dean out of the office so he could take his son to the park. They spent the whole late morning and early afternoon kicking a soccer ball, playing catch, throwing a football, and Will exploring the playground while Dean tried to catch his breath.

“That your son?”

Looking up, Dean saw two women around his age smiling at him. With a proud grin, he nodded. “Sure is.”

“He’s a real gentleman,” one of the women said, all three of them witnessing as Will made room at the slide so a little girl could go first. “Does he take after his father?”

If Dean knew one thing, it was when someone was flirting with him. Something he would usually play along with; after all, a little flirting didn’t hurt anyone. But today was a father-and-son-day only and Dean wasn’t interested at all.

At least he tried to tell himself that Will being there was the only reason.

So instead of a nice comeback, Dean visibly played with the ring on his finger and grinned. “His mother certainly thinks so.”

He could see their smiles dropping minutely but they turned polite right away, both ladies apparently taking the hint and leaving him alone. Chuckling quietly, Dean turned back to watching his son before taking out his phone.

 

**[Me 1:22 pm] Just got hit on at the playground**

 

_[Jo 1:22 pm] Any reason for me to worry?_

 

**[Me 1:22 pm] *gasp* that you could think such a thing of me**

 

_[Jo 1:23 pm] Let me guess: you showed them your ring?_

 

**[Me 1:23 pm] That thing sure is useful**

 

 _[Jo 1:24 pm] That_ thing _??? How blasphemous of you to call it that!_

 

Chuckling, Dean opted not to reply to that but instead to switch the topic. Quickly checking on Will, he saw his son mastering the monkey bars.

 

**[Me 1:26 pm] How are you doing, Gorgeous?**

 

_[Jo 1:27 pm] Deflecting, I see. But okay, I’ll let you off the hook for now._

_[Jo 1:28 pm] And I’m bored. I hate you, btw._

 

**[Me 1:29 pm] I know. And I’m really sorry. How about a massage later on?**

 

Sighing, Dean checked on Will again. Poor Jo. He hated how this pregnancy was forcing her to take everything slow. She was usually such an energetic ball of power; sitting on the couch all day long was certainly not for her.

 

_[Jo 1:29 pm] That would be a start_

 

**[Me 1:30 pm] Alright. We’ll be just a bit longer**

 

_[Jo 1:32 pm] Take your time. I’m watching Severide and Casey save Chicago from burning down_

 

**[Me 1:32 pm] Now who’s the one that needs to worry?**

 

_[Jo 1:34 pm] Nothing to worry – if they were real I would be long gone_

 

**[Me 1:34 pm] -_-**

 

_[Jo 1:34 pm] <3 :*_

 

Chuckling again, Dean pocketed his phone and called out for Will. His son came over right away and together they started a new round of soccer.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Cas was ready to strangle his brothers. Gabe and Michael had stopped by for a little “inspection” – which of course was insane to call it that since Cas had as much to say in the family company as the rest of the Novak siblings. Yet it sure as hell felt like it was one. Michael went over his books while Gabe checked out the display and the kitchen, annoying Cas to no end. At least they had waited until after the lunch rush. Cas just hoped they would be gone by the time Dean might show up. If he did at all. He hadn’t stopped by the last three evenings nor Friday morning but Cas didn’t worry about it. Now that he knew what Dean’s job was, he was sure Dean was just caught up in a busy case.

He was sitting in one of the booths in the back with Michael, immersed in the numbers of the first ten days, when the bells chimed again.

“Welcome to _Angels’ Pie_ , how can I help you today?”

Cas tried not to roll his eyes at Gabe. His brother was the born charmer but his job here, today, was to check if everything was going well in the kitchen. Not to take away Meg and Hannah’s job.

“Uhm … is Cas here?”

Hearing the voice was enough for Cas to quickly turn around, trying to repress his stupid smile. He did not need his brothers to taunt him as Meg did all day long.

“Hello, Dean.”

The man turned towards him and smiled. “Hey there.”

Why was Dean’s smile having such an effect on him? It was stupid, so, so stupid. Not wanting to seem overeager, Cas stayed seated instead of running behind the counter to get Dean his pie. “What’s up?”

“Just … checking in,” Dean replied, his eyes wandering uncomfortably between all the other people gazing at him. “Getting some pie on the way home. Thought I’d let you know I’m still alive.”

Cas could see Gabe looking at Meg who gave him a slight nod. _What the hell?_

“Yeah,” Cas replied, opting to focus on Dean instead of the weird antics of his friend and brother. “I was worried you might have died of a sugar shock.”

His heart totally did not jump at Dean’s cute little chuckle. And he totally did not take a few extra seconds to check out the man. So far he had only seen him in a suit but today he wore ripped jeans, a band shirt, and a flannel over it. His usually neatly styled hair looked windswept as if he had spent the whole day outside. Cas had a hard time deciding which version of Dean was hotter.

“Sooo, what pie would you like?” Gabe cut in and why the heck was his brother grinning like an idiot?

Dean gave Cas one last look before turning around, letting Gabe put together a _Pie of Heaven_. Cas knew the ones he got in the mornings were for his employees, but why on Earth wasn’t Dean the size of an elephant when he got so much pie on his way home as well? Cas wasn’t able to ponder on that question, his brother bringing an abrupt end to it.

“You must be Dean, right? Heard a lot about you.”

“Oh?” Dean replied, looking back at Cas with a little grin.

Cas really hoped his face wasn’t as red hot as it felt. “Gabriel, what the heck?”

Dean’s grin grew a bit wider. “You’ve been talking about me behind my back, Cas?”

The teasing was obvious, yet Cas’ answer was a forceful, “No! Gabe, what are you talking about?”

“Nothing. Meg just told me that you already have a few regulars. What were you thinking?”

Oh, how he hated that his brother could look so innocent when he wanted to.

Glaring at him, Cas was at a loss for words – not a good option when it came to Gabe, who just took his opportunity.

“So, Dean, tell me: any plans tonight?”

“Not so far?” Dean replied, seeming a bit vary of Gabe’s direct way.

“Great. Because tonight is karaoke night down at the Irish pub. We wanted to celebrate the successful start of this bakery. Wanna come?”

“Ehm …”

“I mean, you’re obviously a huge part of the success, seeing how often you stop by.”

Cas was so going to strangle his brother. “Gabriel! Dean, please ignore my brother. He thinks he’s so funny.”

“Hey, I am funny. Besides it’s not a lie, now is it?”

“Well … the pie is delicious,” Dean replied, grinning just a bit as he looked back at Cas, who could feel even more heat rising up his neck. God, please do _not_ let Dean flirt with him while his brothers were here. Cas heard Gabe and Meg chuckle, Meg even throwing in an, “it sure is,” before Dean looked back at Gabriel.

“Guess I could stop by. What time?”

“Nine.”

“Alright,” Dean replied as he paid for the pie and took the box. “See you later then, I guess.”

“Absolutely.”

“Bye Cas.”

“Bye,” was all Cas could reply as Dean turned around and left the bakery without much fuss. A second later, Cas was out of his seat. “What the fucking hell?”

“Woah, Cassie, manners.”

“Oh shut up. What the hell you think you’re doing?”

“Well, I think I just invited the cute guy you’ve been pining over for the last two weeks.”

“I have _not_ been _pining_.”

“Yeah, I guess drooling would be a more accurate description.”

“Meg!”

“Oh Castiel, please calm down,” Michael spoke up for the first time. “He seems to be a nice guy. Go thank Gabriel for making him come to the party we’re apparently having tonight, and then shut up and go back to your papers.”

If they continued like this, Cas would be down two brothers in no time.

“You go on with your inspection, Michael,” Gabriel warbled, getting his stuff from behind the counter. “I have an impromptu party to organize. See you later. Cas,” he added as he was already at the door. “Nine o’clock. Don’t be late!”

He was out the door before Cas could react, leaving a wake of silence behind.

 

~*~*~*~

 

 _This is not a date. This is not a date. This is_ not _a date._

Dean repeated his mantra over and over again while he got ready that evening. Will already had his bath-time and Jo was currently reading him a bedtime story. He would kiss his son goodnight before he left for the Irish pub. If only his nerves would settle a little bit.

Sweet chuckling came from the bedroom door and as he turned, he saw Jo leaning against the frame, her eyes wandering up and down his body.

“Cleaning up nicely there, Handsome.”

“Yeah? Not too underdressed?”

“For a karaoke night with new friends? Not unless there’s something you’re not telling me,” Jo replied with a devilish grin.

Dean tried not to look too guilty and hoped Jo wouldn’t notice it. That woman could read him like an open book.

“Besides,” she went on. “You know you look hot no matter what. If I weren’t already knocked up by you I would jump you right away.”

“Ha ha,” Dean replied dryly, turning back to the mirror, letting his hand wander through his hair. “Will already asleep?”

“Yeah, he’s out like a light. Your boys’ day out in the park totally knocked him out.”

Dean chuckled at that. “Good. I wouldn’t want you to have any stress with him while I’m out and –”

“Oh, you shush, Winchester. I can handle our son, thank you very much.”

“You know what I mean,” Dean said, turning around to pull Jo into his embrace with one arm and put his other hand on her baby bump. “We don’t need another scare, now do we?”

“Certainly not. I’ll be fine though. And yes, I’ll call you should I need you.”

“Good.” Dean pressed a kiss to her forehead before turning back around and sending one last glance into the mirror, carefully raking his fingers through his hair once more.

“Geez, Dean. Do that one more time, and you’ll have me scared you’re planning to be unfaithful.”

Laughing nervously, Dean pressed another kiss to Jo’s forehead before giving her a cheeky grin. “Aww, don’t worry. You know you’re the only woman in my life.”

At that, Jo rolled her eyes and slapped his ass, making him laugh for real as they both left the bedroom. After a quick stop in Will’s room and a kiss goodnight for him, Dean left Jo on the couch to watch some more episodes of _Chicago Fire_ , promising her not to let it get too late. His nerves only kicked back in once he was sitting in the car, music blasting out of the speakers.

_This is not a date. This is not a date._

How was it that Cas had needed all of two weeks to sneak under Dean’s skin? He had his family, had all the love he needed in his life. He was happy and content. So why risk that? This thing with Cas? Nothing good could come from it. Had he learned nothing after Aaron?

And yet.

And yet the cute baker had found a way to sneak into Dean’s heart. It had taken all but one week before Dean had to admit to himself that his daily trips to _Angels’ Pie_ were not just because of the pie. He felt like he was going insane, but it wasn’t like he could talk with anyone about this little crush of his …

Ignoring his mixed feelings, Dean started his mantra again, trying to remind himself once more that this was just a big party that he had been invited to as … well, not even as a friend he guessed. But maybe after this night, there could be something more between him and Cas than just a baker/pie-addict relationship.

And that was _friendship_ , of course. Friendship was all he wanted – all he _should want_ – from Cas.

Over all his inner rambling, Dean completely missed the drive, surprised when he pulled up in front of the Irish pub. The area wasn’t one he liked to park his Baby in, but she would manage for one night. He was a bit late, but not by much, entering the pub shortly after nine. Finding Cas’ group wasn’t hard and the moment Dean saw them, he realized that he had been invited to something very personal. Swallowing hard, he almost turned back around and fled, only to be spotted by Gabriel.

“Dean-o,” the other Novak yelled over the noises in the pub. “Glad you made it. Cassie was already worried you would back out.”

“I was _not_. Shut up, Gabriel,” Cas hissed as he got up and turned towards Dean and well, _hello there_.

Cas had always looked hot, even with his blue apron with fluffy clouds and flour on his cheek. But hot _damn_. Tonight he was downright sinful: tight black jeans that gave Dean a good look at his ass just before Cas had turned around; a dark blue button down that gave a hint at the muscles underneath that Dean had never noticed before; his hair looked just a tad more tousled, as if he’d done it on purpose this time; and he clearly hadn’t shaved, giving him this rugged look. Dean really needed to stop staring and when Cas grinned at him, his mouth ran dry.

“Once again, please just ignore my brother,” Cas told him, stepping aside to make room for Dean to get into the booth. “I’m glad you were able to make it.”

“Of course,” Dean replied with what he hoped was an easy grin. He had to force himself to take his eyes from Cas to look at the other people at their big booth.

He didn’t have much time to think about who else besides Hannah and Meg and of course Gabriel looked familiar when Cas slipped back into the booth beside him and started the introduction.

“Everybody, this is Dean, the main reason our new bakery is such a gold mine –”

“Ha ha,” Dean replied dryly while everybody else chuckled.

“– and these are,” Cas continued as if no interruption had happened, “my sister Rebecca who handles our advertising; my brother Michael who’s head-manager of the bakery downtown and sometimes handles our books; his husband Luc who’s a lawyer and only in the family business if we need his expertise; Gabriel you already know, he’s the manager of the second bakery and the other Novak sibling to invent new flavors; his lovely wife Kali who mostly handles our books. Of course Meg, who’s not only my oldest friend but also a distant cousin –”

“ _Very_ distant,” Meg threw in.

“– Hannah and her wife Raphaela, who is also a cousin of ours and a wonderful designer. The _Angels’ Pie_ interior was her masterpiece.”

“Wow,” Dean said when he’d gotten all the names. “So it really _is_ a family business.”

“Sure is,” Gabriel confirmed. “And if you marry into this family, you have to contribute something as well.”

Before Dean could even reply to that, he felt some movement under the table right as Gabriel’s face contorted painfully and Cas spoke up before anyone else could. “Anyway, there are more siblings, cousins, and spouses involved, but not everybody could make it tonight.”

“How big is your family, exactly?”

“Huge,” a chorus of at least five voices answered, and while they all chuckled, the waitress came to take some last orders before the manager announced the karaoke night to officially begin.

Most of Cas’ family seemed to already know what they wanted to sing, so Dean snatched one of the little booklets to see what his choices were. There was a section with Led Zeppelin songs, but that didn’t make it any easier to choose just one.

“I think this one.”

Dean looked up from Cas’ finger and into those stunning blue eyes that had captivated him from the first moment. “Why that?”

“‘Cause I like it,” Cas replied with a little grin that Dean mirrored right away.

“Okay,” he agreed, getting one of the pieces of paper they had to hand in with their song choices. He tried to hold on to his mantra of _this is not a date, this is not a date_ but Cas made it really hard on him. “ _Ramble On_ it is.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

As it turned out, sometimes his brother’s ideas weren’t half as bad as they first seemed. The spontaneous party was an awesome get-together, and Dean seemed to fit right in with Cas’ family and friends. He joked with Meg and Kali, talked with Gabe about pie flavors, hell he even talked with Luc about some lawyer stuff since his brother was one as well – just one of the little facts Cas learned about the man that night. Another one was the fact that Dean could sing. God, could he sing. Cas could practically _feel_ himself falling more and more for Dean Winchester with every chord he was belting out.

Which, of course, was stupid, since he wasn’t falling for the man in the first place.

Not at all.

Not even when they left the Irish pub to a sudden summer downpour and Dean chivalrously offered to drive Cas home and held his leather jacket over the two of them so they wouldn’t get wet. Or when they were sitting next to each other in a comfortable silence for the few minutes the drive took to his bakery and the loft above. Or when Dean got out of the car with his leather jacket just to cover Cas again.

Nope, not at all.

“I had a lot of fun tonight. Thanks, Cas.”

“Me too,” Cas replied, hastily getting the keys out to get into the dry bakery. Once he had the door open he turned around, looking into Dean’s eyes that were fixed on him. A shy smile played around his soft looking lips, one Cas hadn’t seen before but instantly was addicted to. “Want to …” he began, letting the question carry away and just pointed his thumb over his shoulder. He had a feeling like Dean was drawing closer to him, but then the man’s gaze cleared.

“I … I should probably get home. It’s getting late.”

The spell was broken instantly. Damn that stupid rain, setting this romantic atmosphere.

“Sure. See you soon, then?”

“Absolutely,” Dean replied, smiling again.

Smiling back, Cas got inside the bakery and watched as Dean hastened to his car. Before he got inside, he looked back up once and when his eyes caught sight of Cas, they lit up, the smile spreading over his face once more. Cas waved at him and when Dean finally got into his car and drove away, Cas was still looking after him, smiling like a fool.

No, he was not falling for Dean Winchester.

Not at all.

 

~*~*~*~

 

When Dean got home he found Jo asleep on the couch. Knowing how sensitive she was to bad smells, Dean decided to let her sleep for the time being and quickly took a shower to wash off the smell of Irish pub. He got ready for bed and checked on his son before going back downstairs. Watching Jo for a moment, a soft smile played around his lips. She was always a stunning beauty, but just like during her first pregnancy, she had a natural glow about her now. Pushing back a strand of her hair, he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. Getting back up, he went around the house to check that all the doors and windows were closed and locked before carefully picking Jo up, bridal style, and carrying her upstairs. As he put her down on the bed, she clung to him in such a way that he had a hard time loosening her grip. Chuckling, he freed himself, helping her roll onto her side before climbing into bed behind her, softly resting his arm around her waist. Instantly, she snuggled into his warmth and with a content smile and the thought of “this is all I need,” Dean let himself fall asleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **EDIT - Please read:** I've gotten a few comments, asking me to tag this fic a certain way - which I simply can't because it wouldn't be truthful. What I can do, is to leave this comment :) and I'm doing it after this chapter because by now you've gotten a first taste of the ... let's call it _dynamic_ between Dean and Jo. If you can live with that, if you don't mind the uncertainty and love the thrill of not knowing what's going on and wondering along with the fic - please move on and ignore the rest of this comment :)
> 
> If, however, you think you'll be able to enjoy this fic much more when you know beforehand so you're prepared for what happens, here's a **spoiler** just for you:  
>  Dean and Jo are not together! They're very, very close best friends (grew up like siblings), Will was a happy accident (during a drunken and emotional night) and the second pregnancy didn't happen naturally. But Jo is having issues with this pregnancy so Dean does everything in his power to make her comfortable - even if, like in this case, that means to sleep cuddled up to her so she won't have to be alone.
> 
> I really hope this clears it up a bit and you'll be able to enjoy the rest of the fic - and please keep in mind that this is only the first part in a series and there's more to come ;)
> 
> (you'll find a similar spoiler after a later chapter since I thought that would be early enough - but it seems it wasn't)


	4. Chapter 3: Jack of Hearts

** Chapter 3: Jack of Hearts **

 

The bakery was booming. In fact, it was such a huge success that by the end of the first month, the numbers were even better than their second store’s first four weeks. It was most likely due to the fact that the first two locations were pretty close together and thus probably shared some customers, while Cas’ bakery was in a completely different part of town. But still, his siblings had to admit that Cas’ idea had been brilliant, and his bakery hired even more staff, which allowed Cas to take half a day off now and then.

He usually spent the time creating one new flavor after another, the inspiration just there, not leaving him alone until he finally tried and perfected it. Dean was his favorite guinea pig, because as much as he praised his new pies, he also told him truthfully if they weren’t as good as his other flavors.

It was absolutely not because this meant some quiet minutes alone with Dean in the kitchen every other day. But even if that was part of the reason – they were becoming friends real quickly, so of course Cas liked spending time with Dean.

After that first Saturday, Dean didn’t have time to join them the last two weekends, but tonight he’d promised to make it to a game night with some of Cas’ family and friends. He’d also offered to stop by beforehand to try one more new creation.

“Hey, Lily, you can go home for tonight,” Cas said as he came back from getting ready upstairs.

Lily was one of their newest employees and so far she did a really good job. She even showed talent at baking, so maybe there would be a time in the near future when Cas wouldn’t have to get up at ass-crack in the morning to bake everything by himself.

Turning towards him, Lily smiled. “Looking good there, boss. You sure you wanna risk ruining that?”

“Oh, don’t worry,” he replied, waving away her concern. “It’s not like I’m going to do any more baking. You go home to your lovely daughter. I’ll finish up.”

“Great, thank you, Castiel.”

“No worries.”

Once Lily was gone, Cas started the clean-up. There wouldn’t be much more business, maybe just some stragglers. And Dean would be here in the next twenty minutes or so anyway.

Another regular stopped by half-way through and Cas had a nice chat with the elderly man while getting him two pieces of his favorite pie to take home to his wife. When he walked away, Cas spent a few moments to watch him pass in front of his window.

Would he have that one day? Stopping by a little bakery on a Saturday evening just because he knew his husband loved that one special flavor?

Well, he already knew Dean loved pie –

_No!_

Shaking his head forcefully, Cas got back to cleaning the tables, maybe scrubbing on them just a tad too hard. He truly needed to stop thinking like this.

He had tried before.

He’d thought he’d found his happy ever after two times already and it had ended horribly both times. To this day, he couldn’t even say what had hurt most, Bart or Inias …

_Inias. Surely Inias._

_Stop thinking about that ass!_

Once all the tables were shining even more than they usually did, Cas got back behind the counter, starting to wrap up the leftover pies.

The bells above the door went off again just as he brought the first few pies to the back.

“One moment,” he called out, hoping it might be Dean already.

But when Cas got back to the front and looked up, he froze, an icy shower running up and down his spine.

His new customer looked just as shocked.

“Castiel?”

“Ch -- Chester. What … what are you doing here?”

This was not good. This was so not good. Did he just summon this guy by thinking of his ex?

“Me? I’m just on a business trip,” Chester replied, still looking at Cas as if he’d seen a ghost. “The more important question is: what are _you_ doing here?”

“Living my life?!” Cas replied, already feeling anger boiling up in his veins. This bastard had known. He’d known all the time. And it made him no better than –

“Inias is looking everywhere for you.”

_Yeah, that bastard._

And, sure, of course Inias was looking for him. Cas scoffed, trying not to roll his eyes. Instead, he picked up the next pie to wrap it.

“Yeah, sure he is.”

“Castiel, please.” In his defense, Chester really sounded sincere. And Castiel knew that Inias had tried to contact him. Turned out simply blocking one number didn’t keep the guy from calling Cas over and over again from various other phones. It had only stopped once Cas had gotten a new number. Still, he had no desire to just stand here and talk about his ex. Chester apparently didn’t get that. “You know how much you mean to my brother.”

“Oh, yeah?” Cas bit back, his fist tightening around the pie shovel as it banged on the counter. “You mean as much as his _wife_ and his _three kids_?”

“He tried to explain that to you –”

A huff of humorless laughter left Castiel. “Oh yeah, he totally tried. _After_ I saw them together. _After_ he’d lied to me for two fucking _years_. _After_ he’d made fun of me and called me crazy in front of his _family_.”

“To be fair: confronting him out in the open while he was with his wife and –”

“To be fair? _To be fair?_ He fucking _cheated_ on his _wife_ and made me _the other guy. Without knowing it!_ What exactly was fair about that?”

“Castiel –”

“Do you want some pie or not? Because if you don’t, I would kindly ask you to leave. Now.”

“Castiel, he really misses –”

“Get out. Or I’ll call the police.”

“Why won’t you listen?”

“G _et out!_ ”

He could see anger mix into Chester’s expression – something the man had absolutely no right to. Cas’ head started ringing, but maybe it was just the bells above the door that chimed, only drowned out by Chester talking again. “You’ll regret this, Castiel, and you know it –”

“I said _get the fuck out!_ ”

It seemed like Chester was actually stepping forward, maybe to reach over the counter for Cas, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him and when Cas saw who it belonged to, instant relief went through him.

“You heard him, buddy. Time for you to go.”

Dean’s voice was hard, dark. It held authority and a clear warning not to mess with him. It was probably a voice he used quite often at work.

Chester, however, seemed not to get the hint, trying to shake him off. “Who the fuck are you?”

“Someone who has no problem kicking you out of here, if Cas asks me to,” was Dean’s simple reply and when their eyes met, Cas didn’t even hesitate to nod, silently giving Dean permission to be more forceful should need be. Who knew it would come in handy to have a PI as a friend?

The next thing happened so fast Cas almost missed it. Chester must have moved and Dean’s reply was quick. With one fluid movement, he had the guy’s arm pinned behind his back with one hand, his other hand holding Chester’s head down to the counter. “Wrong move, buddy. You calm now? Or do you need me to escort you outside?”

“Fuck you!”

“Yeah, wrong answer.”

With the hand at his neck, he pulled Chester up and forced him towards the door so effortlessly as if he was carrying out the trash.

_How fitting_.

Cas hadn’t even noticed that the door was still open, but Dean and Chester were out of it in no time. Some dark part of him wished that Dean had just kicked him down those three steps, but the rational part of him was thankful he didn’t. The last thing he needed was a lawsuit with Inias’ brother. A moment later, Dean was back inside the door, closing and locking it behind him. He switched the sign around before turning back to Cas.

“You okay?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“Yeah, no big deal. Who was that?”

“Um … would you believe me if I said an unsatisfied customer?”

Dean gave him a somewhat dark look and Cas sighed, still a bit shaken. A pain in his hand grounded him somehow and he opened his fist, only now realizing he was still clutching the pie shovel way too tightly. As the pain slowly subsided, he tried to sort his feelings and all that had just happened.

“He’s … the brother … of someone I used to know.”

A soft hand landed on his shoulder and only when it calmed him did he notice he’d actually been shaking. He’d thought all this in the past and Chester had brought it all back. Sniffing, Cas stood up straight, not wanting to think about his past one moment longer. He still had some cleaning up to do before they could go. Mechanically, he went through the movements – only to be stopped by two careful hands.

“Why don’t you go upstairs, freshen up a bit? I’ll finish this.”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Cas –”

“ _I said I’m fine_ ,” Cas yelled, hitting the counter with both fists, leaning heavily on them. Right away, he regretted his harsh words. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he finally pressed out. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright.”

“No, it’s not. You’re just trying to help. Already did …”

They both fell quiet.

After a few moments, Dean picked up the pie shovel. “Let’s finish this up together. It’s probably wise of you not to leave me alone with the leftovers or I really would die of sugar shock this time.”

A thin smile tugged at Cas’ lips, and with a conscious decision of shoving all thoughts of Inias to the far back of his mind, he stood up straight again and got the next wrapping out. “I’m already wondering how you’re able to keep that hot body of yours.”

_Whooops, maybe that had been a tad too much._

For a moment, Cas could see fire flare in Dean’s eyes, but then the man laughed, taking the wrapped pie to the back.

“By getting up even earlier every morning to put some workout in. But your pie is totally worth it.”

Just like that, Cas was able to smile again. There was still a heavy weight on his shoulders and the feeling that something bad would follow Chester’s unexpected visit. But as long as Dean was here and joking, everything would be alright.

That was, until they were done and ready to go. Because all of a sudden, Cas had absolutely no desire to leave. Either Dean was able to read his mind or it was just showing that damn much on Cas’ face. Whatever it was, Dean’s next words were a pure relief.

“Hey, man. How about we stay in tonight? There’s still that pie I’m supposed to try, right? And … I don’t know, it feels more like a movie night to me, don’t you think?”

Dean even added a shy smile and Cas was totally helpless not to answer in the same way.

“Sounds awesome.”

Getting the pie and handing it over to Dean, Cas shot a quick text to Gabriel before switching off his phone. He really didn’t want any concerned calls from his brother tonight. As he led the way up into his loft, he actually got a bit nervous. This would mark the first time Dean would see it. At least he knew it was all cleaned. Well, except for the bedroom, but Dean wouldn’t see that tonight.

_Or ever!_

“I hope you’re alright with a movie with zero romantic side note,” Cas blurted out, trying to get his head straight again. Goddamnit, he didn’t even know if Dean was into guys. He could totally be straight.

_Not that it mattered, because nothing. Would. Happen._

_Ever!_

Dean’s soft chuckling was kind of soothing. “Cas, seriously man, you need to stop reading my mind.”

They decided on watching _12 Angry Men_ , but first, Dean tried the lime-strawberry creation. After it got his stamp of approval, the rest of the evening was spent watching Henry Fonda convincing one juror after another that there was, in fact, reasonable doubt in the case they had to judge.

By the end of the movie and as they chose a second one, Cas had all but forgotten about Inias and his run-in with Chester.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Dean could feel the shift in their friendship after their impromptu movie night. It wasn’t the “fireworks going off and suddenly confessing their feelings”-kind of shift. It was more one of lingering touches, long gazes, and flirty one-liners; working in sync when he came by early and helped clean up before they started on whatever they had planned that evening; inside jokes and comfortable silence; a feeling of a relaxed and easy companionship.

It was nice.

It felt right.

And it felt like Dean should stop before he got into this too deep.

He knew himself. Knew he was forming serious feelings for Cas. And nothing good would come of that. He was actually pretty sure Charlie suspected something already so he forced himself extra hard to act normal around her. She was way too nosey for her own good.

“You look like you’ve just been tasked with saving the world and can’t figure out how to do it.”

Only slightly startled, Dean righted his office chair and looked at the intruder, letting a grin wash away whatever Sam could have seen on his face. “Sure feels like it sometimes. What brings you here?”

“Business, as usual,” Sam began, putting his briefcase down on Dean’s desk. “But first …”

“What?” Dean asked, squinting at Sam when his brother just grinned at him.

Sam shrugged and plopped down in the chair facing Dean. “I’ve been hearing about your cheerful mood lately.”

“Urgh,” Dean groaned, letting his head sink on the table.

Sam’s soft chuckle did nothing to soothe him. “I’m taking a wild guess here that it has nothing to do with Jo and the pregnancy?”

“Wasn’t there some business stuff you wanted to talk about?”

“It’s also been brought to my attention that you appear to have become a new regular at a certain bakery –”

“Sam.”

“– which I stopped by earlier. The pie truly is delicious.”

“Sam.”

“Oh come _on_ , Dean. If you have a new friend in your life, you know you can tell me.”

Dean just glared at his brother.

“And if it’s a bit more than just –”

“ _Sam._ ”

“Okay, okay, I’ll shut up. I …” Sam broke off and sighed, but Dean knew there was more to come. “I just want you to know that I’m not going to give you a lecture, okay? However you decide.”

Grumbling, Dean didn’t reply, knowing that his brother was being honest. Sam could be a little shit sometimes, but above all else, he always had Dean’s back. Even if he thought Dean was making a stupid mistake.

“And I know why you need to keep this from most of your team, but you know as well as I do that there are some _Hunters_ who won’t give a rat’s ass or bother you with long speeches.”

That was true. There were at least three who wouldn’t be running back to Jo or the other _Hunters_ and tell them about his … _friendship_ with Cas or whatever this was.

“So if you want to invite the guy over some time, maybe for our monthly poker night tomorrow with just those guys and me … I’m all up for that.”

Thinking about it for a moment, Dean finally nodded. He already knew Cas’ circle. Even if this was just friendship – which of course it totally was – it would only be fair for Cas to meet his.

At least some of his.

Not replying in any other way than with his nod, Dean cleared his throat, finally getting back to business.

“I don’t wanna rush you or anything, but I have a meeting in forty minutes and since it looks like a quiet Friday I really don’t plan on working overtime for once. So, if you wanted to talk something lawyer-y, now would be the time.”

“Right, yeah,” Sam replied, getting up and opening his suitcase. “Just wanted to go over some last details with you for two of the cases the _Hunters_ handed me over recently. And I’ve been looking through what your team has gotten me on the Dick Roman case so far.”

“I know it’s not much, yet. Sorry,” Dean replied, getting up to stretch his legs while he was talking to his brother.

Sam, however, didn’t look as perturbed as Dean thought he would. “I think you actually got more than you think. We have at least three different cases I could build against him with all this.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. Unfortunately, they’re all more business focused. Those I could throw at him right away and he would totally go under.”

“Wow. Why has nobody done it yet?”

“Money,” Sam stated without hesitation. “Roman certainly has enough to buy off every lawyer that even so much as blinks in his direction.”

“Good thing you’re one of the good guys.”

“Well, for the right price …”

Dean stopped his pacing and threw his brother an annoyed bitch-face, which made the moose of a man chuckle right away.

“Calm down, Dean. I was joking.”

“What about the thing we really want to get him for?”

“Well, that’s a bit trickier,” Sam admitted, checking some of his files. “But we actually _do_ have some statements and some proof that he’s not the best father or most loving husband.”

Leaning against the windowsill, Dean threw up his hands. “Then what are we actually waiting for? Take the bastard down.”

“Not so fast. I said we had some of it. There’s still just a last little piece missing to make this bulletproof.”

“I thought your fancy law degree and that brain of yours were what would make it that.”

“Funny, Dean, as always,” Sam replied dryly, finally sitting down again. “Those two things are already turning what little you have now into an almost solid case, so don’t complain.”

“Alright. What is this last puzzle piece you need?”

“Pictures.”

“Damnit,” Dean groaned, pushing away from the windowsill and letting himself fall back into his chair.

“It can’t be that hard,” Sam began to argue, letting his hand wander through his way-too-long hair as he leaned forward.

“Sam, we’ve been observing him for weeks now and nothing. He’s as celibate as a nun.”

“Then bait him.” When Dean groaned again, Sam went right on. He knew how much Dean didn’t like for his agents to have to take that route, even though most of them were trained for it. “Look, it doesn’t even have to be much, okay? I’m not talking nudes, although they would totally be the best. No, at this point and with everything else I have here, a heavy make-out session caught on camera would already be enough. Maybe even a voice-recording with some more details. After that, your agent can stop it.”

“Define heavy make-out session.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes, Sam, seriously. I want this bastard nailed down. So tell me: clothes off? Going down on each other? Just some groping? What do you need?”

Sam seemed to think about that for a moment but Dean was glad that he still had his lawyer-face on. It might sound weird for some people, but those were the details the other side as well as the jury would pay attention to.

“We have at least six different statements about his infidelity. At this point? Your agent can even keep their clothes on as long as Roman’s tongue is down their throat and his hand on their ass. Totally enough for me to get that divorce and every last penny for his husband.”

“Consider it done.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear. Now, for these other cases …”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Nora was the newest addition to the bakery staff and she and Lily seemed to hit it right off if the talk about babies and kids were anything to go by. Cas was happy that his constantly growing staff seemed to get along so well and as long as all the patrons were taken care of he didn’t mind them talking whenever there was a lull in customers streaming in. Their laughter was a happy distraction to his rambling thoughts.

Almost a week had passed since Chester had shown up and the more time passed without anything happening, the more nervous Cas got.

Why was he even worried about that? Maybe Chester wouldn’t tell Inias and just leave it be. But that simply didn’t sit right with Cas – he _knew_ that wouldn’t be the case and half the time the bells above his door rang he expected his ex to enter, leaving him on his toes all the time.

At least it kept him from thinking too hard about Dean and how the man got under his skin. He wanted to be with him as much as he could and yes, Castiel knew that he was staring at him way more than he should and yes, he should probably not flirt with him whenever he could. But the way Dean had been there for him last week … it had been so sweet and –

_Stop it!_

_Bart had been sweet as well and so had been Inias._

And he seriously needed to stop comparing Dean to these two assholes. Dean was not a cheating bastard and he was also not a married guy with kids.

Although Cas had to admit that he didn’t yet know much about Dean’s family or friends …

The bell above the door thankfully interrupted his thoughts and when Dean entered, Cas was pleasantly surprised.

“Four o’clock on a workday? That’s unusual.”

“Hey, it’s Friday,” Dean replied. “And I totally earned that. As well as another of your new lime pies, please.”

Before he could reply, the phone rang, but Lily waved him off and answered it, leaving Cas to turn back to Dean.

“Sure, coming right up. A whole one?” When Dean nodded, Cas shook his head with a fond smile as he got a box out. Selecting an extra nice pie, he jokingly asked, “Caught any bad guys this week?”

“Of course, always.”

Something about the way Dean said that seemed off and made Cas look at him. Dean appeared to be slightly nervous and not his usual comfortable self even though he tried to pretend.

Lily’s voice weaved through the silence, momentarily distracting Cas as she repeated herself over and over again with an asked, “hello?” He turned towards her and caught her gaze as she shrugged and covered the mouthpiece. “I can hear someone on the phone, but no one is answering.”

“Just hang up,” Cas told her. “Probably just some kids playing dumb jokes.”

Lily nodded, trying one more time and, after a moment’s pause, hung up to get back to serving the patrons.

Turning back towards Dean, the nervousness was now more clear on the man’s face, but Dean quickly cleared his throat and spoke before Cas could say anything.

“So, uhm, Cas … do you like to play poker?”

“Uh, yeah. Sure. Why?”

“Well, my brother and some of my friends – we have this monthly poker night. I mean, it’s not like a regular thing or such, but, yeah, we try to do it at least once a month, so I guess that makes it kind of regular after all and …”

When Dean broke off, a small smile tugged at Cas’ lips. Dean really was nervous. So nervous he was rambling.

_That’s actually cute._

“Anyway, what I was trying to say is that we play tomorrow. And … I wanted to ask if you would like to join us.”

“Sure,” Cas replied without hesitation, a real smile now on his face. There it was, his chance to meet Dean’s circle of friends and even his brother. This was great. “When and where?”

“Oh, ehm. We start at eight. And we always switch location; I think it’s Cesar and Jesse’s turn tomorrow. I could pick you up at a quarter to eight?”

“Yeah, sure. Sounds awesome.”

Dean visibly relaxed and grinned at Cas, who smiled back before finishing up with the pie and handing it to Dean.

“See you tomorrow then, I guess,” Cas said, unable to stop smiling and yeah, maybe his voice had been a tad flirty. Good thing Meg wasn’t working today.

Dean’s only reply was his grin turning wider as he raised his hand in a short wave goodbye and left the bakery.

Only when he heard some giggling behind him did Cas turn around, surprised to see Lily and Nora looking at him with amused faces.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing boss,” Lily replied, making Nora giggle some more before both women scattered off.

Rolling his eyes, Cas sighed. Great. Now he would have to make sure to be more careful around these two as well.

But … maybe he didn’t even mind that much.

 

~*~

 

“Never, ever do you have two Kings,” Dean stated, looking Cas dead in the eye.

But if Cas was good at one thing, it was his poker face, so he stared right back, not even a muscle moving. The table showed two Queens, a King, a seven and an eight. And Cas had just raised the right amount to take Dean all in.

He was sure Dean did not have a Full House. He was also pretty sure he had only one Queen in his hand, if at all. If it were two Queens Cas was positive that Dean wouldn’t hesitate. Benny, Cesar, Jesse, and Sam had already faulted for this round, their stacks getting smaller with every minute while Cas’ constantly grew. High enough, actually, that he would even survive it easily should Dean win this round.

“Alright, I don’t think you have them. I’m all in, so show.”

Keeping his straight face, Cas flipped over his two Kings and instantly Dean groaned while the rest of the table did this weird mix of groaning and laughing.

“Man, Cas, seriously?” Dean asked, just throwing his cards away without showing. “You do know you’re not going to get invited to poker nights anymore if you continue like this.”

“Speak for yourself,” Cesar threw in, already getting the silver chips box to get some more out for Dean. “I for one don’t care who I’m losing my money to.”

“Exactly,” Jesse agreed as he took the five bucks from Dean so the man could buy himself in again. “It’s actually refreshing to see your ass getting beaten.”

Dean growled at his friends but otherwise said nothing as he pulled his new chips over.

They’d been at it for hours and Cas simply loved it. He loved how Dean’s brother and friends just welcomed him in their middle without much fuss. And he loved the carefree way Dean interacted with them. He saw a new side to the man and it was captivating.

The fact that he was about to win some money wasn’t half bad either.

Although, with his new chips Dean seemed to have hit a lucky streak. He won five hands in a row and quickly, Jesse had to buy himself in again as well, and so did Sam, Benny almost there as well. It would be his second time to lose all chips. Since they had a rule that after the initial buy-in at the beginning of the evening every player was allowed to buy themselves back in just once, the man was really careful now.

Nevertheless, after three more rounds, Dean forced Benny to go all in and when he flipped his two Aces with a wide grin, Benny groaned and threw his cards on the stack. “Damnit, brotha.” His bad mood passed quickly as he gathered all the cards, being the designated dealer from now on.

As the clock already ticked past midnight, Jesse was the next to go, quickly followed by his husband. Dean was close to almost losing again, risking another all in, this time against his brother. Cas had already faulted so when Dean went all in on the flop, Sam and he turned their cards for the big showdown.

Sam had an ace and a king; Dean a pair of twos.

The flop showed a five, an ace, and two, and everybody was on their toes. Right now, Dean would win with his Three of a Kind and leave Sam with so little he would probably not survive for long.

But the Turn showed an Ace, giving Sam a Full House, and Dean groaned. “Nooo, come on. Come on!”

“Alright, this is it,” Benny moderated. He’d already burned the next card and was holding the River in his hand, not visible for anyone. “As of right now, Dean’s out. Only a two’s going to save your ass.”

Cas smiled as he saw Dean leaning forward. The man looked so cute when he was eager like this. Quickly, he turned his attention back to the table – just in time to see Benny turn the River.

It was the two of Hearts.

Dean stood from the table, his arms raised in victory while his friends and mostly Sam groaned. Looked like Dean really was the usual winner.

“ _Yes!!_ ” Dean let out a little victory cry before turning back towards the table. “Boom!”

Sitting back down, he collected his chips while the rest of them still couldn’t believe the luck Dean had. Beating a Full House of aces and twos with a Four of a Kind – yeah, that took some stupid luck.

“Alright. Cas,” Dean said, boasting with confidence. “Now it’s just the two of us.”

“Hey,” Sam exclaimed. “I still have a few chips, alright?”

Dean mostly ignored him, and he had every reason to. Sam was just able to pay for the next Big Blind and Cas finally knocked him out of the game for good, smiling apologetically at him. Instead of being sulky, Sam rooted for Cas right away, cheering him on now and then. Jesse and Cesar jumped right in as well, even going so far as to point out some of Dean’s more obvious tells. That only happened once, though, Benny shushing them right away.

As was normal with just two players left, the rounds went quickly, the Small Blind simply being pushed around between them way too often. If one didn’t have a good hand on the Small Blind, the best way was to fault.

Or to bluff, of course. And as it seemed, Cas was a master when it came to bluffing.

But every good thing had to come to an end, their epic showdown couldn’t have been better.

The table showed a black three, the other four cards all Hearts: nine, ten, Queen, King. The way they had bet clearly showed they both had a Heart in their hands, so now it came down to the question: who had the better one.

“All in,” Dean declared after he had studied Cas for countless minutes. His smile was confident and he even winked at Cas, coaxing him to take the bait.

But there wasn’t much to coax, Cas knew he had won, so he simply nodded.

Dean’s smile turned victorious as he flopped his cards around, showing something black and – of course – the Ace of Hearts. “Boo-yah!”

The rest of the table whistled in appreciation, the Ace obviously giving Dean the highest Flush possible. Then all eyes wandered towards Cas. He couldn’t hide the little grin on his face, his eyes simply fixing Dean until he saw the man’s wide grin slowly drop.

“No,” Dean breathed out. Of course he was expert enough to know that there was only one card left that could beat him. “No. No no no. _No. Way!_ ”

Waiting for just a second longer, Cas finally, very slowly, turned just the one card that was really important. The one card that surpassed Dean’s, because it gave Cas not only a Flush but a Straight Flush.

The Jack of Hearts.

 

~*~

 

It was well after three in the morning when Dean finally stopped his Baby in front of the bakery, shutting off the engine and looking at Cas.

“Thanks for coming tonight, Cas. That meant a lot to me.”

“Are you kidding?” Cas replied, still not able to shut off that smile plastered on his face. “I’m the one that has to thank you. It was nice meeting some of the people close to you. And I had a lot of fun.”

“Not to forget that you’re about fifty bucks richer now.”

“That too,” Cas agreed, grinning.

Silence fell around them as their chuckling slowly ended and their gazes caught. It would be so easy for either of them to just lean in and kiss the other and Cas was sure he saw Dean’s eyes flick towards his lips at least twice. But something was holding the man back and Cas was no better. Too many feelings and questions warred inside of him.

After what felt like hours in the silent darkness, Dean cleared his throat as if to pull himself out of a trance and the moment was broken. Cas drew in the warm air that smelled like leather and Dean. He hadn’t even realized he’d stopped breathing and now the scent hit all his senses.

“Right, it’s late,” he mumbled. “Thanks again for this evening. And the drive.”

“No worries. What … ehm, what are your plans for next weekend?”

Cas couldn’t rein in his grin. “Not sure yet, but I guess we can find something? How do you feel about bowling?”

“Sounds great,” Dean replied, looking back at him with a shy smile. “Maybe we can bring our friends together? See how that would work out?”

Something inside of Cas had rather hoped for a bit more alone-time with Dean. Maybe he should have suggested another movie night. But on the other hand, bringing their two circles of friends together sounded awesome as well.

“Perfect, I like the sound of that.” With another grin, he finally opened the door and left Dean’s beautiful Impala. Leaning back down, he gave Dean a little wink. “See you on Monday.”

“Yeah, see you,” Dean replied, biting his lower lip.

The gesture hit all of Cas’ buttons and he quickly closed the car door and hastened over to his bakery before he could do anything stupid. He only heard Dean leaving once he was safely inside.

 


	5. Chapter 4: Lime and Honey

** Chapter 4: Lime and Honey **

 

It was still dark outside but Dean was wide awake, his mind wandering. It had almost been two months now since he had first stepped inside of his personal Heaven. Almost two months since he’d first met Cas and they’d become friends. And no matter how he looked at it, Dean had to admit that it was harder and harder to suppress his attraction to the man. They’d spent so much time together these past few weeks, and it got harder every time for him to not just grab Cas and get a taste of those chapped lips. It was hard not to just reach for him and hold his hand when they spent time alone, or to melt under his intense blue gaze. And oh God, it was hard not to go insane when Cas was on stage, belting out _I Will Survive_ or, even better, _Stairway to Heaven_. Dean had never been that religious, but in those moments all those weeks ago at their first karaoke night he had prayed for mercy on his soul because he had wanted Cas so fucking much. Now that he knew how much he really liked the man, tonight would be pure torture.

After last week’s success at the bowling alley – their two circles of close friends and family hitting it off right away – they had decided to go out together again, this time for karaoke. Dean knew it was risky, but so far it seemed his friends and his brother had kept their word, neither of them talking about Jo and his kids.

But that didn’t keep them from teasing him mercilessly. Dean found he didn’t care. What he did care about was what all this with Cas really was. By now it kept him awake sometimes, his thoughts just running wild. Thing was, it wasn’t as if anything would hinder him since he was pretty sure the attraction was mutual.

In the end, however, he just couldn’t do it. What he had with Cas, this friendship, the flirting now and then … it was enough. It was good, even though his desires almost killed him sometimes. It really was enough the way it was and he tried to remind himself of that whenever Cas smiled at him or whenever he woke up, thinking about the angel and his damn blue eyes.

The sun was slowly rising and for the first time since she’d fallen asleep next to him, Jo stirred, slowly waking up.

“Morning, Gorgeous,” Dean said, smiling down at her.

“Nooo, too early,” Jo complained, pulling her blanket up and turning away from him. Not an easy task, her belly was getting bigger every day now. It really did remind him a bit of a small whale and the thought and her cute antics made him chuckle. “Don’t laugh at me, Winchester.”

“Sorry. You’re just cute in the mornings.”

“Shut up and make me some coffee.”

Chuckling, Dean rubbed Jo’s back where he knew it always hurt and as she started to purr like a cat, he felt like it was safe enough to reply. “No coffee, Jo. You know what the doctor said.”

“This pregnancy is killing me. And it’s all your fault.”

“Yeah, you said that during Will’s birth as well. And now look how worth it was, right?”

“I hate you.”

“I know. I love you, too,” Dean replied, pressing a kiss to Jo’s neck before hugging her close and resting his hand over her belly. At 18 weeks, their kiddo had started to kick just a few days ago and ever since, Dean loved lying next to Jo, feeling their little girl or boy alive and well. He just hoped they wouldn’t have another scare as they had in the beginning of Jo’s pregnancy. He knew it was driving her insane, having to be at home and mostly in bed or on the couch all day. But he also knew that she would do whatever it would take to make sure this baby would survive.

“Think we will have more luck to find out about the gender this time?” Jo asked, snuggling back further into his warmth. They had found out Will’s gender very early on, just in week 15. But so far, this little jelly bean here was too shy to show what they had or didn’t have.

Dean shrugged. “Don’t know. Missouri said it could still be a while. And you know I don’t care either way.”

“Yeah, I know. Neither do I. But Will …”

Jo didn’t have to finish that sentence and Dean chuckled. “Think he’ll beg us for another sibling in case he doesn’t get his little sister?”

“He’s your son, so yes.”

“Hey! I’m pretty sure his stubbornness is a Harvelle-trait.”

“No way. It’s a Dean Winchester-trait.”

“Are you talking about me?” a little voice came from the hallway.

Dean sat up just enough to look over Jo’s shoulder towards the door. Their son stood there, his Batman PJs askew, rubbing the sleep out of his eye while his favorite blanket was dragging on the floor. At five years old, Will reminded Dean so much of Sam at the same age it was almost scary. If he didn’t know exactly that Will was his son, he might have had second guesses sometimes.

Jo reached out a hand, begging Will to come to them. “We always talk about you, little man. And about how proud we are of you.” Once he was in reach, she pulled him closer and covered his face with kisses, making Will squeal. He jumped on the bed, and as Jo turned on her back, he lay his little head on her belly, listening for his little sister.

“Is she already awake?”

“She is, yeah,” Dean replied, ruffling Will’s hair. No need to correct him with the gender. If Will wanted to believe he would get a little sister, no one would be able to convince him otherwise.

Looking down at his little family, Dean kissed Jo’s head and hugged her close. This was all he would ever need. This was enough. This was good.

He just needed to convince his heart.

 

~*~

 

Seemed like his heart just wouldn’t listen to him.

Especially not whenever Cas got slightly clingy when he was tipsy. Having Cas in his arms to make sure he would get back to his loft safely was pure torture and Dean loved every moment of it. The cute thing about a tipsy Cas was that he was also very affectionate and very ignorant to the concept of personal space. Not that Dean minded, at all.

Tonight was no difference, even though Dean could have sworn Cas hadn’t drunk as much during their karaoke night.

“I really like your voice, Dean.”

Chuckling, Dean made sure Cas wouldn’t run into a lantern. “It’s nothing special.”

“Doesn’t have to be special to be pretty.”

“My voice is _not pretty_.”

“No, it’s sexy.”

Damn. Whenever Cas got like this, Dean had a really hard time trying not to flirt back. It was so easy to do with Cas. To forget all the reasons why he shouldn’t do it.

“So you think my voice is sexy?” he asked as they turned the corner onto Cas’ street.

His friend was already close to him but he leaned even closer. “Everything about you is sexy, Dean.”

 _Shit._ The flirting between them was nothing new, of course, but it was usually way more subtle. This kind of Cas, all blunt and out in the open was new. Dean honestly didn’t know how to reply and he thanked God as they drew closer to the bakery and Cas’ loft on top of it.

“Well, thanks for the compliment.”

“Wanna come inside?”

“Woah, Cas. Buddy, how drunk are you?”

At that, his friend let out a bark of laughter. “I meant for pie. Dean, I’m tipsy, I’m not completely drunk.”

“You just called me sexy.”

“So? Can’t a tipsy person state facts?”

Shaking his head with a little laugh, Dean opted not to reply. As Cas got out his keys and opened the door in one fluid moment, Dean had to admit he was a bit impressed. Seemed like Cas really wasn’t that drunk. Seemed like he was just one of those people that didn’t have a filter when talking once they had some alcohol.

“Not interested in pie?”

Cas’ question made Dean realize that he was still standing outside while his friend was holding open the door, gazing down at him. After hesitating for just a moment, Dean finally threw caution to the wind, took the three steps, and followed Cas inside. After the man had locked the door again, they made their way to the kitchen where Cas pulled out a plate with little pieces of pie. “Some new creations I worked on this week.”

“Dude, how many more flavors do you need? You wanna break some record?”

“It’s not about _needing_ them, Dean,” Cas explained, sounding more sober with every word he spoke. And it was a good thing too, as he now went to one of the ovens and put the pies inside to warm them up. “It’s more about the fact that these ideas for new flavors just pop into my head and if I don’t try them at least once, I’ll go crazy.”

“You mean like an artist that sees a picture and just has to create it?”

“I guess? Or maybe like an author that just needs to write down all the ideas for stories that come to mind. For me, it’s the pies.”

“Okay, but I’m serious: how many different flavors have you created by now?”

“I’ve never counted them.”

“You should bake all of them one day so we can count them,” Dean suggested, wiggling his eyebrows.

Grinning, Cas shook his head. “You do know I don’t need to actually bake them to count them. I could just write it down.”

“Sure, if you wanna be boring.”

The _ping_ of the oven stopped Cas from replying. While he got the pies out, Dean picked up two forks and handed Cas one.

“Okay, this one here is a Honey-Lemon-mix,” Cas started, waiting for Dean to taste it before going on.

Dean tried to suppress it, he really did, but he couldn’t hold in the little appreciative moan that escaped him. “Son of a bitch, this is awesome!”

“Yeah?”

“Totally. I fully approve.”

“Great,” Cas replied before taking a bite himself. He nodded and then went on. “Next up, a Pumpkin Pie of my own creation.”

Dean already knew of Cas’ love to take a traditional pie and tweak it to make it so unique it almost had nothing to do with the original recipe anymore. This time, however, Dean didn’t have to try not to moan. “Mhh,” he mused as he let the flavor fully work on his tongue.

“Bad?”

“No, not bad. Just …” Dean took another little bite, trying to figure out what was missing. “It’s not up to your usual standard, I would say. Sorry.”

“No, don’t apologize. You know I love your honesty. What good would these test runs do me if you only always gush about the pies?”

“Which I usually do.”

“I know,” Cas replied, smiling up at him. Then he tasted a bite himself and nodded. “Yeah, I totally need to add something to this. Not one of my best.”

“What’s the last one?”

“Lime and Honey.”

“Really, Cas? Lime again?” Dean had to chuckle at that. His friend seemed to have a love affair with limes lately.

The moment the flavor hit his tongue, Dean knew why. The taste was similar to the first creation, of course, seeing how limes and lemons were pretty close in taste. And still, there was something about this taste that almost made Dean weak in his knees. There was no chance in hell not to moan like a porn star with something this amazing in his mouth. All too soon it was gone and Dean dove in for a second bite, keeping the fork in his mouth as he let the flavor hit every taste bud.

“I take this as approval?”

Dean slowly opened his eyes, not even aware of the fact that he had closed them. There was something about Cas’ voice that sent his mind straight to the gutter. It was rough and a bit breathless and as their eyes met, Dean knew exactly why. Very slowly, deliberately, he pulled the fork out of his mouth and swallowed, while he got another piece of pie on the fork and held it up to Cas’ mouth. Keeping their eyes locked, Cas opened his mouth, his tongue darting out just enough to guide the fork inside his mouth.

Dean had to swallow hard.

And then Cas was moaning as well and Dean’s mind went blank.

The fork clattered on the kitchen counter as Dean leaned forward, almost closing the space between them, but not all of it. There were just a few inches left, giving Cas the chance to decide.

A moment later, sugar-sweetened lips were on his and it was the most amazing feeling ever. Cas opened up to him almost instantly and Dean was about to pull back, one last piece of brain power left that told him how dangerous this was. But in the next moment, Cas pressed up against him and Dean was lost in the moment and the feeling of this wonderful man in his arms.

Somehow, he ended up against the counter, Cas between his legs. The first time their crotches met, they both moaned into the kiss, only intensifying their fire. He felt Cas pulling at his shirt and even though some part of him still screamed to stop, he didn’t. He let go of Cas’ lips only when Cas wanted to pull his shirt up over his head. Dean took a moment after that, just looking at Cas. He traced his jaw with his fingers, took in the feel of Cas’ chest rising and falling quickly while trying to catch his breath. Searched every inch of his face, trying to find any hint that Cas was just playing him.

There was none and a moment later and with the thought of _fuck it_ , he was kissing Cas again, finally taking control of the situation.

 

 

~*~*~*~

 

Cas could feel the shift in Dean. He had known something was holding the man back even though he hadn’t appeared to be reluctant. Quite on the contrary. And still, something had not been right. Now, however, whatever it had been seemed to be gone. He was not about to complain. While he had loved pushing Dean against the counter, he had to admit that it was just as hot with Dean in control and being the one pushed up against the counter.

A soft whimper left him as Dean started to unbutton his shirt. Halfway through, he seemed to get impatient, just ripping it open the rest of the way.

Cas had absolutely not planned for this. He knew he was more open and forward whenever he drank alcohol. And he hadn’t lied when he said he wasn’t drunk. Just tipsy enough to throw caution to the wind. There were a lot of reasons why he shouldn’t do this. For one, even after all these weeks together there was still so much he didn’t know about Dean. And that Dean didn’t know about him. Two, his dating history did not mark him as someone with a good hand at picking the right guy. What if Dean was like Inias? Or Bart? Maybe he really should get to know the man better before –

Dean’s mouth latched onto Cas’ neck while he pressed against him, letting Cas feel his hard cock through their jeans. All thoughts flew out of Cas’ head as he moaned and pulled Dean even closer. He had no idea who had started it, but a moment later they were both fumbling at the other’s belt. Dean’s lips found their way back to his mouth, kissing him with a new fervor as he pulled Cas’ jeans and boxer shorts down just far enough to get his dick out. Cas had to break the kiss as he sucked in air. For a second he forgot that he had been on a similar mission as Dean had been. The moment the kiss broke, Dean started to kiss down his neck and his now bare chest, the shirt hanging open and askew. There was no time to discard it. Cas wanted Dean to come back up and continue kissing him. He also wanted to finally feel Dean’s dick. But feeling the man’s lips on his ribs and stomach was also amazing and Cas was torn between just enjoying it and wanting to touch Dean himself. He was so distracted by the fire Dean’s lips left in their wake, he gasped in mild surprise when they finally touched his dick, first leaving feather-light kisses and then closing around it eagerly. All other thoughts flew right out of Cas’ mind.

“Oh God,” he groaned out, one hand flying into Dean’s hair while the other one gripped the counter behind him. The way Dean sucked on his dick and then hollowed his cheeks and bobbed his head up and down with enthusiasm … yeah, there was no question left in Cas’ mind that Dean had been with men before. His very brief worry about Dean being straight was nullified with this.

They had just started and already Cas was on the edge. With all the willpower he had left, he pulled Dean off of his cock and back up. Tasting himself on Dean’s tongue, mixed with the sweet flavor of the Honey-Lime-Pie and Dean himself – Cas was high on this flavor. With a few quick grips, he pulled Dean free as well. The way Dean moaned when their dicks met was even more sinful than the one after he had tasted his pie. It only got louder when Cas encircled both of them with his hand and started to jack them off. Their mouths slotted back together, both too out of it to really kiss but wanting the feel of it anyway.

It wasn’t long before he felt a shiver crushing through Dean’s body. “Shit, Cas. Cas, I’m –” Dean broke off with a long drawn groan as he spilled all over Cas hand and stomach.

Cas needed a moment longer, too distracted by the view Dean gave him as he came. But all Dean needed to do was open his eyes again and look at Cas, and he was gone too. Finally, he let his head drop on Dean’s shoulder, trying to catch his breath. They stood like this for a long time, just breathing the sweetened air, heavily layered with the scent of sex.

The first thing that brought Cas back to reality was little butterfly kisses all over his shoulder and he couldn’t help but smile. Carefully pulling away, he looked up into Dean’s eyes and saw the shy smile that he’d come to love over the past few weeks. It was a rare thing with Dean, who usually boast of confidence. But now and then, it appeared, and Cas treasured every moment.

Cas leaned forward and kissed him. Nothing sexual, just a sweet peck on the lips. Dean in return traced his jaw once more, cradling his face for a moment. Cas let them both bask in the moment for a while longer before he shuffled over to the sink to clean his hand. He got a towel out of the cupboard and made sure the water was warm before soaking it. He first cleaned himself up quickly before turning back to Dean, tenderly doing the same. Dean let him but leaned forward to steal another kiss. They got dressed in the same silent and content atmosphere.

Once they were done, Cas just stood there. He didn’t want it to become awkward between them, yet he had no idea how to continue from this moment onwards. He _wanted_ to invite Dean upstairs. But he didn’t trust himself with that. That would be too rushed, wouldn’t it? Thankfully, Dean took over that decision, even though Cas didn’t like what he heard.

“I guess I should be going.”

“Maybe.”

“Well, the pie is cold now.”

“Oh yes, the pie. Guess then there’s no reason for you to stay,” Cas replied, grinning at Dean.

Thankfully, the man seemed to realize Cas was only joking. He returned the smile and pulled Cas back into his arms. The kiss was soft, lazy. No hint that either of them planned on a second round right now. Cas loved how Dean’s arms felt around him. He loved how _he_ felt in Dean’s arms.

Yet, Dean was right. There was no reason for them to rush this now. Well, rush it even more. With a last kiss, Cas let go of Dean and packed up the two pieces of pie that had actually been a success and handed them to Dean. The man seemed just as addicted to kissing Cas as Cas was to kissing him because there were a few more before they finally made it to the door and Cas could close it behind Dean. With a sappy smile on his lips, he waited as Dean got in his car, smiled at him one last time, and drove off.

As he got back into the kitchen to go upstairs, he knew one thing for sure: it would be a while before he could work in this kitchen again without thinking about Dean.

 

~*~

 

The reality of what they had done only started to really catch up with Cas on Monday morning while he was preparing the last pies for the day in said kitchen. Dean would be here soon and Cas got more nervous the closer it got to his usual time. They hadn’t even talked about what that had been on Saturday – was it just a quick hook-up? The start of a relationship? Casual dating? An open relationship? Friends with benefits? Would this actually ruin their friendship?

And most importantly: did Cas even want to start something with Dean? Was he ready for this? Maybe he should start by being honest with the man first. Tell him that he had been burned before in relationships and how important honesty was for him. Which, of course, just made him a total hypocrite right now.

The thoughts were still jumping wildly around his head while he put the last pie on display. Sighing deeply, he nodded towards Lily to switch the sign around and open the door for the first customers. Right away, they were caught up in a busy day, leaving no more room for troubled thoughts.

His heart still skipped a little beat when he finished up with one customer, only to look up and see Dean standing there, smiling shyly at him.

“Hey.”

“Hello, Dean.”

They just stood there and stared at each other for a few seconds. Maybe a few _long_ seconds, because some customer behind Dean even cleared their throat.

“The usual, please,” Dean hastily said and Cas was just as quick to jump into action. In the background, he could hear Hannah, Lily, and Meg chuckle and for a split second, he was tempted to turn around and tell them to stop it and go back to work. Thankfully, he didn’t have to, because the phone rang at that moment, giving the ladies something to work on.

When he looked up into Dean’s shy smile, all thoughts of his employees were gone. Sadly, it was way too busy in the bakery to say something to Dean, but he just couldn’t say nothing. So after he put the two boxes filled with _Pie of Heaven_ down for Dean, he quickly got out a smaller pie box and put a piece of lime-and-honey-pie in it, winking at Dean when he added it to his pile. Dean’s shy smile instantly grew into a real one and after he took his change and lifted the boxes, he mouthed a, “see you later,” towards Cas, before leaving the line.

Cas had a hard time reining in his happiness for the rest of the day. Not even the continuing phone pranks that had bothered his staff lately once or twice every other day could disturb that. And if the pie slices for his other customers became just a tad bigger … well, no one seemed to complain.

 


	6. Chapter 5: Secret Flavors

** Chapter 5: Secret Flavors **

 

Dean needed to be even more careful. He knew his friends and family had already been suspicious before last Saturday and now, a whole week after their first time, Dean still wasn’t able to rein in his constant good mood and smiling. And how could he? These past few days with Cas … they’d been heavenly. But Dean knew: if he continued like this, his friends would certainly very soon catch onto the fact that something had changed in his life. And if that happened – there would be hell to pay. Jo would be all over him and she certainly didn’t need any more stress. No matter how much he wanted Cas, Jo’s well-being and that of their unborn baby was definitely much more important.

Getting himself a soda out of the fridge, Dean closed the door – only to jump a foot out of his skin as he came face to face with Jo.

“Jesus, Jo. Wanna give me a heart attack?”

“I just got off the phone with Charlie.”

“And?” Dean asked, trying not to get nervous under Jo’s calculating stare.

In response, she crossed her arms, her gaze boring even deeper into his soul. Dean swallowed hard – he was so screwed.

“And? She confirmed my suspicion.” As Jo took a step forward, Dean took one back. “That you’ve been the same cheerful bastard at work for the past few days as you have been at home. Even more so than in the past few weeks.”

“A guy can’t be happy?”

Mistake. Big mistake. Jo took a couple more steps and Dean quickly tried to get more space between them.

“Not that happy, no. At least not you. She also told me that you’ve been whistling.”

_Fuck._ Hitting the counter with his ass, Dean was cornered.

“You _never_ whistle. Unless of course you’re happy. Like really, _really_ happy. Like hearts-in-the-eyes-happy.”

“Jo –”

“Don’t you dare _Jo_ me,” she interrupted him with a death glare, her finger poking into his chest. “Spill it, Winchester. Who is it?”

“There isn't –”

“ _Winchester!_ You know I love you and that I don’t want our children to grow up without a father. But so God help me, if you lie to me, I will kill you and you know no one will find your body.”

Swallowing hard, Dean let his head drop. It had all gone so well. Why the hell hadn’t he been able to tone down his happiness a notch? Stupid as he was, his eyes wandered towards the _Pie of Heaven_ box on the counter. Skilled _Hunter_ that Jo was, her eyes followed. And widened instantly.

“It’s the baker, isn’t it?”

“Jo, please –”

“Dean Winchester. Don’t you dare lie to me while I carry your child.”

Sighing deeply, Dean finally nodded.

Not a heartbeat later, a high-pitched squeal filled the room and Jo’s arms were around his neck, hugging him within an inch of his life. “I knew it. _I. Knew. It!_ ” Giving him just enough room to breathe again, Jo kept him close, beaming up at him. “I mean I know you have a pie addiction, but going there _that_ often was insane even for you. Oh my God, Dean! Why didn’t you tell me sooner? I want to know everything. Tell me about him. How long have you been together? Is it serious already? His name was Cas, right? Dean, oh my God, spill it, I need to know.”

“For that, you would need to take a breath first and let me get a word in, woman.”

Playfully slapping his chest, Jo was only able to hold her scowl for a second before squealing and hugging him once more. Then she reached around him for her herbal tea and walked backwards towards the living room.

“You, me, couch. Now.”

Groaning, Dean thought for a second about a way to get out of this, but actually … now that Jo knew, Dean found himself relieved that he finally had someone to talk to about all these feelings. There was no way he would be able to talk with Sam in the same way; Jo always was the one that knew him best in that area.

He still braced himself for the inevitable discussion this would bring up, but maybe it was a small price to pay for finally being able to talk to his best friend.

Taking out some chocolate cookies, soda still in hand, Dean followed Jo and plopped down next to her. Good thing Will was staying with his Uncle Bobby today because Dean was sure this was going to be a long talk.

“Alright, ask away and I’ll answer truthfully.”

“How long has this been going on?” Jo started, reaching for one of the cookies.

Dean took one himself. “Ehm … well. We’ve been – what did you call it last time? Dancing around each other?” When Jo nodded, Dean continued. “I guess we’ve been dancing around each other since that first karaoke night –”

“Oh my God, _I knew it!_ You were way too nervous that night for there _not_ to be a guy involved.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’ve got me all figured out. Now shut up and let me continue.” As an answer, Jo took a big bite of her cookie. “Alright. So I guess, there was some sort of attraction right from the start but … yeah, that night definitely marked some new step in this whole … _thing_. I guess.”

“Geez, Winchester. So eloquent.”

“You want me to answer your questions or not?”

This time, Jo just silently sipped on her tea and Dean rolled his eyes.

“ _Anyway_. We … well, last Saturday, it all finally … collided –”

“Oh my God, you already slept with him?”

“Jesus, _woman._ ”

“Sorry, sorry. I’m quiet, go on.”

“If you must know: Yes. And not just once since then. Want to know all the positions we’ve already been through?”

“Eww, rude.”

Chuckling, Dean took a sip of his soda, almost spilling it all over himself when Jo threw a cookie crumb at him that had him barking out a real laugh.

“Don’t be an ass, Dean. Tell me about _him_.”

“He definitely has a cute ass,” Dean choked out after putting his soda down, already raising his hands to shield himself. And not too soon as the first pillow hit him while he could hear Jo’s beautiful laughter ring through the room. He let her get in two more hits before finally caving in. “Alright, I give up. Alright, alright.”

When the attack stopped and they both had their laughter back under control, Dean’s dreamy smile was back. “He’s … awesome. Loves Led Zeppelin, bakes awesome pies … I mean, come on, Jo. What do you want me to say? You know I hate these chick-flick moments and talking about feelings and all that bull.”

“No, you don’t. You might fool everybody else with your macho behavior, but we grew up under the same roof, remember?”

“Hard to forget, seeing how we still live under said roof.”

“So stop trying to fool me. I know you cried during _The Longest Ride_.”

“That was my _allergies_.”

“I didn’t see any cats in your close proximity that night.”

Glaring, Dean forcefully bit off another piece of chocolate cookie and munched on it passive-aggressively.

_Damnit._

Instead of basking in her victory, Jo beamed a genuine smile. “You look happy, Dean. I’m just so glad. Sorry if I’m a bit annoying.”

“Urrrggghhh, I _hate_ when you take that route. Alright, I’ll tell you everything.”

And so Dean finally did without much more fuss. From the first meeting and the kind of accidental proposal; the pie tastings and group nights out; the flirting and talking and just generally enjoying each other’s presence.

“God, Dean,” Jo said after a while. “You’re so head over heels, aren’t you?”

“I … don’t know.” A small smile tugged on his lips as he averted his eyes. “It hasn’t even been a week, we haven’t even been on a real date yet. And I totally exaggerated earlier. About the … you know …”

“The many positions you’ve been through?”

“Yeah, that,” Dean admitted. “And the thing is … I don’t even care.”

Jo gasped dramatically and it was Dean’s turn to throw a little cookie crumb at her.

“Don’t laugh. I mean … the sex with him is amazing. But … just being with him ...”

God, he was such a girl, talking like that. He would die if Sam ever found out about the things Jo and he shared.

Then again, Sam knew the two of them had slept with each other once and that was probably the most embarrassing thing that could have ever been known between the three of them.

A soft hand landed on his knee as Jo leaned forward, searching eye contact. “You do realize that’s a good thing, right?”

“I guess.”

“Don’t.”

Bracing himself, Dean looked up. There it was, the first step of the inevitable discussion. They had been there so often Jo didn’t even go on right away, knowing full well that they both knew what was coming next.

“I know,” Dean finally breathed out. “And I’m trying, okay? I really am trying. But … it’s just not that easy, okay? Opening up again … trusting again …”

Silence followed his quiet admission. And yet, the question he’d been dreading this whole time came way too soon.

“Does he know?” Jo’s voice was calm, quiet, not giving away her feelings in the slightest. But when Dean shook his head, she breathed out heavily. “Dean –”

“Jo, please. We had this conversation. Over and over again.”

When she sighed in defeat, Dean finally looked back at her, totally surprised. Reading him like an open book, Jo shrugged helplessly. “I don’t wanna fight about this anymore. You do what you think is best.”

Dean couldn’t suppress the grim smile. “You know I don’t know what the best way is. I’ve tried it every way possible and it always ended badly. All I know is that he won’t meet Will until I’m absolutely sure about him. I can handle the guys running the moment I mention my son –” Jo gripped his hands tightly at that, knowing full well that he’d hardly been able to handle that in the past. “And -- and I can handle them leaving me for not telling them sooner. Hell, I can even handle them running once they met you guys the first time, although I have no idea why anyone wouldn’t want to get to know you for real –”

“Because Brady was an ass, that’s why.”

Chuckling darkly, Dean nodded. He swallowed hard before going on. “But I will certainly never, ever again let it get to the point where Will gets attached before the guy hightails it out of my life.”

He had tried. He really did try dating after Will was born. And he’d been through all the scenarios he’d just listed. But what Aaron had done just last year … he could forgive the guy for breaking his heart – but he would never forgive him for hurting Will in the process. The only good thing was that Will was still so young and had forgotten about Aaron soon enough.

No, Dean promised himself. He would make sure one hundred percent with Cas before the guy would even get close to his son. He would not let his son get attached to another of his boyfriends only for them to leave again, having his son wonder if he did something wrong and if it was his fault that Daddy was alone again.

Jo’s arms around him were a welcome distraction and without much thinking, he leaned into her embrace.

“You liked him like that from the start, didn’t you? Or you would have told him about your son while you were still just friends.”

Dean only shrugged, knowing Jo didn’t need confirmation.

“I trust you, Dean. And I have a good feeling with this one.”

“How so?”

“Because I haven’t seen you as happy and sappy like this with any of your former boyfriends.”

Grinning at that, Dean sat back up and Jo went back to her herbal tea.

Out of nowhere, she slapped his arm, sipping on her tea the next moment as if she’d done nothing wrong.

“Ouch,” Dean shrieked, more out of shock than actual pain. “What was that for?”

“For not telling me sooner. Or your friends for that matter.”

“Sam knows.”

“ _What?”_

“And Benny, Cesar, and Jesse. We had a poker night together, went for bowling, and they joined us at karaoke the other night. Well, okay, they knew we’re friends. I haven’t actually told them – ouch,” Dean shrieked again after Jo had slapped him once more. “Woman, stop hitting me. Domestic violence is not cool.”

“That was for Sam and the guys knowing before me. I feel betrayed.”

Rolling his eyes, Dean got up and took the empty cookie pack. Holding it up in question, Jo nodded and Dean went to get some more, talking a bit louder on his way so Jo could still hear him.

“I have no idea how Sam figured it out. And you know I didn’t tell you because I wanted to prevent the whole ‘you should tell him about Will right away’-talk.”

“Which you didn’t get this time, so joke’s on you,” Jo yelled back.

Getting another soda, Dean went back to the living room, pressing a kiss to the top of Jo’s head before plopping back down on the couch. “I know. And I deeply apologize.”

“What about the rest of the _Hunters_? Why didn’t you tell them?”

“You mean besides the fact that about half of them would have told you right away? Maybe the fact that I had no desire for my friends to be snooping around my business?” he said with a meaningful raised eyebrow.

After a moment of consideration, Jo nodded in understanding. “Point taken. Although … maybe it wouldn’t be the worst if they would –”

“I will _not_ let my friends go full Private Investigators on my boyfriend. … What?” he asked when Jo’s grin turned gleeful.

“You just called him your boyfriend. So – you’re serious already?”

Avoiding the question for a moment, Dean took another cookie. “I actually don’t know. I feel like we’re still at the start and that there’s still so much we don’t know about each other.”

“You mean like the fact that you have a kid and a second one on the way and that you live in the same house as the mother of said children?”

“For example, yeah,” Dean replied. After a moment, he groaned loudly and let himself fall back on the couch. “Oh God, Jo. How am I going to explain this? Why didn’t I tell him while we were still friends? Why did I choose this route?”

“Hey, it will be alright,” Jo soothed him, cuddling up next to him. She even stopped his fidgeting hands where he was playing with his mother’s old silver ring. “If he’s the right one, he will understand. And it’s not like you’re cheating on him or anything. Just … don’t wait too long, okay? Take him out. Explain it to him.”

“What if he wants to meet Will right away? How would I explain to him that … that I don’t want that yet?”

“If he won’t understand that your son’s well-being is your number one priority, he’s not the right one anyway.”

At that, Dean huffed out a humorless laugh. “Not the answer I wanted.” Feeling Jo’s soft lips on his temple, Dean closed his eyes and leaned into the touch.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Dean seemed uncharacteristically absent tonight.

They were curled up on Cas’ couch, some black-and-white classic on TV, but mostly they just enjoyed being close to each other. Or at least, Cas did.

“Are you alright?” he finally asked, breaking the comfortable silence between them for the first time in a while.

When Dean looked at him, it was as if Cas’ words had pulled him from another dimension and when he didn’t answer right away, Cas chuckled and pressed a kiss to Dean’s chin.

“Where are you with your thoughts tonight?”

Dean seemed to shake himself out of it before pulling Cas even closer into his arms, kissing him softly. After a moment, he leaned back. “I’m sorry. It’s just been crazy lately with … the cases.”

Something about that little pause made Cas squint, but Dean went right on, not giving Cas a chance to ask.

“And I can already tell you that next week will be crazy busy. If we’re lucky we’re going to get three more big cases on board.” He rested his chin on Cas’ head and took a deep breath before letting it go on a sigh. “Sorry for being a bit distracted. Instead of thinking about how little I’ll be able to see you next week I should enjoy the time we actually _do_ spend together.”

Grinning at that, Cas moved out of Dean’s arms just enough to be able to straddle him. If the noises the man made were anything to go by, Dean fully appreciated this new position.

“I guess I can help you forget about your thoughts and instead _enjoy_ our time together.”

“Mhhhhh,” Dean moaned as he opened up to Cas’ kiss.

When strong hands gripped his hips, Cas slowly started to move, rolling them ever so slowly over the man’s crotch, while he let his own hands wander into Dean’s hair and deepened the kiss. As much as they’d both liked the frantic kitchen sex they had last Saturday, ever since they’d mostly taken it slow, sex not always the most present part of their time together. They’d spent almost every evening in each other’s company over the past few days and only twice had there been heavy make-out sessions and sex. It was great and it showed Cas that this was more than just a physical attraction. Dean seemed to enjoy his presence just as much as he did Dean’s.

His thoughts came back to the present as one of Dean’s hands left his hip and roughly grabbed his ass, pulling him as close as possible, making them both groan in pleasure. Dean’s other hand came up and touched Cas’ cheek, holding it so he could keep him still as he looked into his eyes. Cas loved getting lost in those wonderful green eyes, yet this time he used the quiet moment to deftly lift up Dean’s t-shirt and pull it over his head. When he leaned forward to kiss along the man’s neck and his shoulders, Dean groaned again and let his head drop back on the couch, giving him even more access to all the beautiful skin. He was so busy with nipping and licking at it that he only noticed Dean removing his own shirt when the man nudged at his arms, needing Cas to cooperate so he could actually get rid of it.

“Do you want to actually move this to the bedroom this time?” Cas asked with a cheeky grin, holding Dean’s face in both of his hands, letting his thumbs slowly rub over the already soft stubble there.

Dean’s hands were on his ass again, slowly, very slowly dragging him closer again as the man grinned back. “If I remember correctly, the first time wasn’t my fault we didn’t make it that far. And I still plead not guilty on the second time.”

To be honest, that was true and understandable. On Monday they had spent the evening on the couch just like tonight, but when the kisses and making out had started, Cas had been too caught up to even think about inviting Dean over to the next room and it had ended a good hour later after another round of frottage on the couch. On Thursday, though, it had been Dean’s fault. Kinda. Well, okay, in his defense, Cas could understand why he said the pie was the real culprit. Because after another pie-tasting, Dean had gone down on his knees right there in the bakery kitchen and given Cas the most amazing blowjob he’d ever had. Maybe Cas really had a problem with all this desire to create one new flavor after another, but if _that_ was the result out of it from now on, he honestly wasn’t going to stop. Not even when Dean grumbled about seduction. At that, he’d simply kissed Dean sweetly before going down on him as well.

“I didn’t hear you complain either time,” Cas now said, gently nipping at Dean’s ear before winding out of his grip and getting up. When Dean pouted, he quickly leaned down for another kiss and took the man’s hand, pulling him up.

Neither of them were wearing shoes and their socks and jeans were quickly gone on their way down the hallway towards the bedroom. Cas had finally cleaned up in here but he had a feeling that Dean wouldn’t have noticed either way. Not when they were all over each other and basically tumbling into his bed, chuckling and trying not to hurt each other. They didn’t even bother with the light.

“Anything you don’t do in bed?” Cas asked when they had sorted all their limbs and Dean stopped kissing him in favor to breathe for a moment.

The sparse light that came in from the hallway was enough for Cas to see the cheeky grin above him. “Are we talking kinks already, Cas?”

Laughing at that, he pushed the man’s face aside, only to follow right away as Dean rolled over and on his back. Cas was straddling him again, taking his wrists and pinning them down above the other man’s head while he leaned down to whisper in his ear. “Maybe?”

When a dark growl ripped from Dean’s chest, Cas could feel his dick respond right away. Oh sweet Lord, now there was something to explore for the two of them in the near future. Chuckling, Cas slowly let his hips roll over Dean’s crotch, nipping at his ear before leaning up to look into the man’s eyes. “But for now I was rather asking about your preferences.”

When Dean moved his hips just enough to press his dick against Cas’ ass, it was Cas’ turn to growl. “For now, I think this right here is my number one preference,” Dean cheekily replied, using Cas’ momentarily distraction to free his wrists, his hands on Cas’ hips right away. “Well, minus the boxer shorts, of course.”

“Well, get rid of them then,” Cas growled and was pleased when Dean not only moaned but also followed his command right away. Once his boxers were gone, Cas didn’t straddle Dean again right away, but instead leaned over to reach under his bed for the box with all his supplies. While he was leaning over the side, Dean’s hands and mouth wandered over his thighs and ass and a moment later, teeth sunk into the flesh of one of his ass cheek, making him squeal and almost topple over the side of the bed. Only Dean’s strong grip saved him, and when he got back up and looked into the man’s grinning face, it was hard to keep his growl in check.

“You’ll so pay for that.”

“I was hoping you would say that,” Dean replied, only laughing when Cas almost tackled him, pinning him down to the bed.

Somehow, the lube found it’s way from Cas’ hand into Dean’s and while Cas was busy tracing every inch of Dean’s mouth, one lube-covered finger also found its way to his hole. He had to stop his own ministrations when Dean’s finger first breached him, groaning and accidentally baring his throat to Dean. The man took his chance right away, nipping and kissing at his Adam’s apple, making Cas groan even more with all the different sensations.

Even though they clearly were both eager, Dean still took his sweet time with opening up Cas, even switching positions during the process, rolling them over in bed so he could press Cas in the mattress himself. Cas wasn’t going to complain, rather enjoying every moment of attention Dean gave him and his body. That didn’t mean he wasn’t excited when Dean finally withdrew all his fingers, quickly cleaned his hand and then got the condom. While he put it on, Cas pushed him back down on his back, loving how Dean followed his silent command without even a hint of resistance. He had no idea just how much that turned him on, never really having a chance to be like this. He was absolutely looking forward to exploring it, but for now …

“Oh God, yes,” Cas moaned as he slowly sank down on Dean, trying not to seem too eager, forcing himself to take it slow.

It was in vain when a moment later Dean’s hips bucked up, bottoming out in one go and punching the air out of Cas on a silent groan. When he had some control over his breathing again, Cas looked down at Dean, seeing the man grin cheekily once more.

Well, maybe a bit of exploring right now wasn’t the worst idea.

Grinning as well, Cas slowly reached for Dean’s hands, pried them away from his hips, and pinned them back above Dean’s head. When he saw the man’s breathing becoming more shallow and his eyelids flattering shut, Cas slowly leaned down and murmured roughly into his ear: “Stay still!”

A shiver went through the gorgeous body underneath him, but otherwise, Dean didn’t move at all. Studying him for a moment longer, Cas was quickly convinced that Dean would listen and he started to move his hips, slowly, carefully eliciting one amazing noise after another out of Dean. Once he sat up, releasing his hold on Dean’s wrists in favor for a better angle, they both groaned and Cas could witness how much Dean was fighting against his apparent urge to move. He smiled down at the wonderful picture below as he moved up and down Dean’s dick, his own neglected so far. Keeping it like this for a few more heartbeats, he finally leaned down again, kissing along Dean’s throat and over his racing pulse until he reached his ear again.

“We’re going to have so much fun with this, and very soon. But for now, I want you to move again and make me scream.”

He’d hardly finished when Dean’s arms already wound around his torso, crashing him down to the man’s chest while he felt Dean shift his legs. A moment later, Dean’s hips were moving fast, pounding into him mercilessly and Cas hardly had time to prepare for it. He gripped Dean’s shoulders, letting the wonderful feeling consume him as his mouth was wide open in a silent scream. Then Dean’s arms loosened their grip and his hands helped Cas to sit back up.

“Oh, God, yes. Yes, Dean, please.”

The new angle and Dean’s erratic movements were pure bliss, hitting the bundle of nerves within him just right. He threw his head and torso back and caught himself with his hands on Dean’s thighs, meeting his thrusts as best as he could.

It took him a long while to realize that the groaning screams were actually his own, but he couldn’t stop them. Dean was hitting all the right senses and Cas felt like he was flying. The moment Dean touched his dick and started to jack him off, Cas was lost. It only took a few more heartbeats until he was coming all over Dean’s hand and their stomachs.

When he came back to his senses, he was still riding Dean, or rather straddling Dean while the man was moving under him, chasing his own release. Cas didn’t hesitate and helped along as best as he could. Seemed like it didn’t need much, just the clenching of his ass around Dean’s dick, and the man was groaning and gripping Cas’ hips tightly as if he needed something to hold on to.

Slowly sinking back down onto Dean’s chest, Cas didn’t care about all the mess on their bodies when Dean sluggishly wound his arms around him once again, both of them breathing heavily.

“Okay, that was amazing,” Dean breathed out after a long while, making Cas chuckle and slowly come back to life. Not enough to actually get up, though.

“That it was.”

Moving his head after all, just enough to look at Dean, Cas was greeted with sparkling green eyes and a satisfied smile. “Hey,” Dean breathed out when their eyes met, his clean hand beginning to draw feather-light pattern over Cas’ back.

Cas smiled back at him. “Hello.” And not able to hold himself back, he leaned forward to nip at Dean’s beautiful lips. It quickly deepened into a real kiss and when they came up for air, Cas couldn’t keep his next words in: “Stay the night?”

As his words registered, they both looked at each other in mild shock, but Cas’ racing heart was quickly soothed when Dean’s expression morphed into a huge smile.

“I would love to.”

Despite their intimacy just now, they still used the bathroom separately, Cas letting Dean go first after putting out a toothbrush and a towel for him, but not bothering with anything to sleep in. When it was his turn, he quickly took a shower and brushed his teeth in record time, not able to tone down his smile for even a second.

Going around his loft to shut off all the lights and the TV, he came back to find Dean texting on his phone. When he heard him, Dean looked up and smiled, shutting off the phone right away and letting it slip back into the pocket of his jeans on the floor. “Hey, you,” he said as he sat back up, reaching out for Cas.

Cas took his hand and let himself be pulled into bed, but still had to ask: “everything okay?”

“Hmm?”

“You were just texting.”

“Oh, yeah,” Dean said, dropping a kiss on Cas’ shoulder while they moved around to find the perfect way to lie down in bed together. “Just answered someone real quick.”

When they finally found a comfortable angle – Dean on his back with Cas in his arms – they found themselves gazing at each other again.

“Hey.”

“Hello.”

Soft smiles played around both their lips and when Dean leaned down to leave a butterfly kiss on Cas’ nose, Cas couldn’t help but grin like a fool. He snuggled into Dean’s warmth and after a few more distractions in the form of kisses and wandering hands, they soon fell asleep in each other’s arms.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tadaaa :D see, as promised: no cheating ;)
> 
> For those that are still biting their nails, here's a little spoiler - pssssst, don't read if you don't wanna get spoiled ^_^ - Dean and Jo are best and really close friends (grew up together like siblings), Will was a (very happy) accident after a drunken night, and the new pregnancy was because Jo wanted more kids and Dean was happy to help out. It did not happen the natural way ;)


	7. Chapter 6: Ex’s & Oh’s or The Golden Bait

** Chapter 6: Ex’s & Oh’s or The Golden Bait **

 

Dean hadn’t lied when he said he had a busy week ahead. Except for two mornings, Cas hadn’t seen the man since he’d left the loft after a late Sunday brunch that may or may not have involved some more mind-blowing sex. It wasn’t as if Cas was bored; his own work keeping him on his toes constantly. By now they were looking to hire two more people, which would give Cas a chance to actually either take a whole day off now and then, or to open up the bakery on Sundays as well. He was sure at least the brunch rush hour would be worth it.

No, it wasn’t as if he was bored – but he still missed the man. At least Dean and he had been texting a lot, although there’d often been times when Cas had to wait a bit for a reply. Dean had also promised to join them this Saturday for a quiz night at another bar Gabriel had found just a few days ago. Cas just hoped that nothing would get in the way because he knew that sometimes Dean even had work on the weekends.

The ringing of the bakery’s landline pulled him out of his thoughts. Or rather, Meg’s loud protest.

“I’m so not going to answer that phone,” she said, looking expectantly at her co-workers. “If I have this prank caller on the line one more time, I’m probably going to throw it against the wall.”

Cas rolled his eyes but walked over to the other end of the counter anyway. So far he had the luck of never being the one to answer their mysterious prank caller, but from what the girls had told him, it was rather annoying. Not only did the caller not say anything, sometimes they could hear him (they were all sure it was a man) breathe, obviously just being there and waiting for something. By now, most of them just hung up as soon as they were positive it was this guy again, while Meg always made sure to leave some curse words for the guy before ending the call and slamming the phone back down. Maybe now Cas would finally make his first experience with that guy as well.

“ _Angel’s Pie_ bakery, you’re speaking with Castiel Novak, how may I help you?”

There was silence for a moment and when Cas heard the heavy breathing, he was about to give the guy a piece of his mind for harassing his staff, when all of a sudden a voice spoke up.

_“Castiel, finally.”_

All blood drained from Cas’ face right away, cold ice running up and down his spine. With all the willpower he had, he pushed through the door to the kitchen before replying.

“Inias, what do you want?”

_“To talk to you, obviously.”_

“Have you been calling these past few weeks, harassing my staff?” The initial shock was quickly overridden by anger. “What the fuck, why didn’t you just tell them what you wanted?”

_“I -- I admit I wasn’t brave enough –”_

“Oh cut the crap!” Cas interrupted, fed up already. Whatever bullshit lie the guy wanted to tell him, he could keep it to himself. “Stop calling, Inias. Or I’ll send my brother-in-law after you and he’s one hell of a lawyer.”

_“Please, Castiel. I only wish to speak to you.”_

“But I don’t want to talk to you. Leaving town, blocking you, and then changing my number, all of that should have been a clear message for you.”

_“If you could just let me explain –”_

“ _Inias_ , how often do I have to say it? Nothing will change what you did! I don’t care about it anymore, alright?”

_“But I thought you loved me.”_

“Yeah, and I thought you were an honest man and not a cheating husband. Guess we were both wrong. Now, _stay away from me_. And stop calling, you creep!”

Ending the call, Castiel tried to calm himself with a few deep breaths instead of throwing the phone against the wall.

It didn’t work, so he put the phone on the counter before he could break it, and then paced the kitchen.

He’d just left Inias behind him and now this. Well, at least now he could stop worrying about what might happen after Chester had found him. He only regretted that his staff had to suffer because of this.

Realizing that nothing would really calm him at this moment, except for maybe one thing, Cas left the kitchen, made sure that the bakery wasn’t bursting with customers, then got out two boxes for a _Pie of Heaven_ and one for a single piece of pie.

“Ladies, you alright with handling the bakery alone for about an hour?”

“Sure,” Meg spoke up and when Lily and Nora nodded in agreement, he thanked them and rushed upstairs to make sure he looked presentable and to get his car keys, wallet, and phone. Leaving his apron in the kitchen, he got back out, took the pie boxes, and left the bakery. The fresh October air was already soothing, but it surely wasn’t enough.

He searched for the address on his phone and let it direct him to the headquarters of the _Hunters_. Only once he stepped inside the building and walked towards the elevator to get up to the third floor did his nerves start to hit him. Would Dean mind him showing up out of the blue? Was this alright? He knew the man was busy, maybe he wasn’t even here?

On the other hand … well, had he tried to visit Bart at his workplace even once, it would have saved him a lot of heartaches.

When he stepped out of the elevator, an open reception area greeted him, as well as a nice-looking lady behind a table made of glass, and two more people standing to the side, talking over some files in their hands. They all looked up at him and the receptionist smiled at him right away.

“Hey there, how can I help you?”

“Oh, ehm … yeah, I was looking for Dean Winchester?”

“Oh my God, has he started to order from your bakery now?” she asked, her eyes falling towards the boxes in his hand. “I’m telling you, that man has an addiction. Hang on.”

“No, ehm,” Cas started, but she was already pushing a button on some device on her table that was followed by a ringing sound right away. Uncomfortably, Cas looked towards the two people standing to the side. The woman with red hair squinted at him, while the gangly-looking dude only smiled. Smiling back nervously, Cas turned towards the receptionist again when Dean’s voice rang through the intercom.

_“What’s up, Becky?”_

It was fascinating how solely hearing the man’s voice calmed down Cas’ nerves and made a soft smile spread over his face.

“Your delivery is here, boss.”

_“My what?”_

“Your pie delivery. I didn’t even know they do deliveries – how much money did you spent there that they make such exceptions for you?”

 _“Becky,”_ Dean interrupted her rambling, clearly sounding a bit annoyed. Cas bit his lips, hoping Dean wouldn’t be angry at him for interrupting his workday. _“What are you talking about? I didn’t order any pie.”_

“You sure? Because there’s this cute guy here, carrying three pie boxes from your favorite bakery,” she said, throwing a flirty wink at him. Cas hoped his smile looked sincere and not too forced.

The next moment the connection on Becky’s intercom was interrupted. Dean must have hung up and Cas’ felt his nerves flare up. Seconds later, a door down the hallway opened and when he looked over, he saw Dean walking towards him. The confused frown on the man’s handsome face dissolved right away and a smile spread over it. Cas sighed in relief.

“Cas, what are you doing here?”

“Well, I thought you might suffer from withdrawal with how little pie you had this week. So I thought I’d stop by, bring you an early lunch.”

“You’re awesome, you know that?” Dean replied, but he didn’t lean in for a kiss as Cas might have hoped. Then again, they were standing in front of three of Dean’s employees, so it was totally understandable.

Dean took the single-slice-box from the top of the stack and then signaled for him to put the other two boxes down on Becky’s table. Looking at his receptionist, Dean smiled. “Could you please spread the word that there’s some pie here?”

Instead of Becky, the redhead answered, a wide grin spreading over her face. “Oh, we’ll be sure to spread the word, don’t worry, boss.”

“Thanks, Charlie,” Dean replied with an annoyed undertone, not even trying to hide the eye-roll. Without any further comment, he nodded at Cas to follow him, walking back towards his office.

As soon as the door was closed, Cas began to apologize: “Dean, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have just shown up. I didn’t mean to … well, whatever was out there, and –”

He was shut up in the next moment by Dean’s lips on his. The man had used the few seconds of Cas’ rambling to put down the pie box and was now pushing Cas back against the door, his lips demanding entrance. Cas was all too happy to comply.

“Don’t say sorry,” Dean breathed out while they were both gasping for air. His hands were already under Cas’ shirt, wandering all along Cas’ back. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.”

“I think I have a slight idea,” Cas breathed back, moving his hips to brush along Dean’s cock that was already growing hard. Dean groaned at the contact, smothering the noise by capturing Cas’ lips in another bruising kiss.

Some voices out in the hallway broke into their little bubble and Dean stopped the kiss, his head falling on Cas’ shoulder instead.

“Damn, sorry. Sorry, I shouldn’t have started this. I have actually no time.” He looked back up, a pained look contorting his face as he softly touched Cas’ with one hand. “I have a meeting soon.”

Cas smiled at him soothingly, leaning into the touch. “Don’t apologize. It’s my own fault for just stopping by without checking in first.”

Dean’s gaze slightly changed, from a pained to a more worried one, as his eyes quickly scanned Cas’ face. “Yeah, what’s that really about? Did something happen?”

“Actually …”

“Yeah?”

“No, you … you don’t have time. Sorry, I don’t wanna bother you. I really just wanted to see you –”

“Cas,” Dean interrupted, not letting him go as Cas already tried to move out of his hold to leave and let Dean get back to work. “I have a minute. And if not, I’ll take the time. So tell me.”

“If you can afford a minute of your time, I’d rather spend it bent over your table,” Cas replied with a shaky chuckle.

It got a laugh out of Dean and another quick kiss, but after that, the man actually let go. “Please don’t tempt me. If you stop by when all the other _Hunters_ and clients are gone, well,” he murmured, winking at Cas.

“I’ll definitely keep that in mind,” Cas replied, following Dean as the man turned around, got a fork from a coffee table in the corner, and then leaned against his table. Picking up the pie, he opened the box and took a deep breath. A happy smile spread over his face and a soft moan left him as he took his first bite. “Damn, so good. I think, one day I need to marry the guy who made this.”

Cas’ chuckle sounded shaky even to his own ears, and Dean grew earnest again right away. Putting the pie aside, he held out his hand and pulled Cas close the moment he took it.

“What’s going on?”

“I got a call today. From … an ex of mine.”

“Oh.”

“We … well, things didn’t end well with him. He’s the reason I left Chicago over a year ago now. Back then, I first blocked his number but soon had to change mine all together ‘cause he kept calling me from various other numbers. It was all good after that until recently.”

“He found you again?” Dean asked, concern lacing his voice.

Cas shock his head. “No, not him. But … his brother.”

It only took a second for Dean to add the puzzle pieces together. “Wait, you mean that guy I kicked out of your bakery?” When Cas nodded, Dean went on. “But wasn’t that like over a month ago? Why would he call only now?”

“He called before. He’s that guy my staff thought was playing phone pranks. I guess he was just waiting for me to pick up.” Right away, Dean’s arms around him tightened, pulling him closer into his warm embrace. It was unbelievable how safe Cas felt in his arms.

“You want me to do anything? Check the guy out? We could totally do that.”

Cas was already shaking his head before Dean had even gotten to the end. “No. No really. I don’t want to bother you.”

“Cas –”

“Dean, it’s fine. He’s not even in this state, so I guess you won’t be able to do much anyway.”

“Trust me, there’s a lot we can do.”

It was said with real conviction and some dark undertone that made Cas smile a little. He leaned in for a quick kiss, before reassuring Dean once more. “It’s okay, really. I threatened him with sending Luc after him should he call again, so I hope it will be fine now. I was just a bit shaken and … I wanted to see you.”

This time, it was Dean that leaned in for a kiss and Cas was more than happy to melt against the man.

“You can stop by anytime you want,” Dean murmured. “I’m happy you did today.”

They kissed for a moment more, until Dean looked at him again with a serious expression. “Is there anything I should know about this guy? I mean, stalker-like creepy phone calls, you leaving a city because of an ended relationship …”

Cas slightly shook his head. “It’s not what you think. Inias isn’t dangerous or whatever. It just ended really badly.”

“How so?”

Just as Cas wanted to answer, Dean’s intercom flared to life with an annoying ring.

“Fuck, sorry,” Dean groaned out but nevertheless leaned back and pushed one of the buttons, his other hand still holding Cas. “Yeah?”

_“Your 12.30 appointment is here, boss.”_

“Thank you, Becky. Please escort them to meeting room one. I’ll be there in a minute.”

_“Alright.”_

Dean let go of the button and turned back around to Cas, pulling him close right away. “I’m really sorry, Cas.”

“You don’t need to apologize, Dean. This is your job.”

“We’ll talk about this, and soon, alright?”

Looking into Dean’s open gaze, Cas found himself simply nodding.

“Good,” Dean replied, quickly stealing a kiss from him. “I guess it’s time we start talking about these things. On both sides, right?”

“Probably,” Cas said, a smile back on his lips. Dean was talking about taking a next step in their … relationship? Was this a relationship already? Well, they should probably talk about that as well, and soon.

But not right now. Right now, Cas leaned back to get a better look at Dean, quickly putting his tie back in place and brushing away some wrinkles in the man’s shirt he himself probably put there. When his eyes landed back on Dean, the man was smiling at him. With one last kiss, Cas stepped back and Dean pushed away from the table. He picked up some files and then escorted Cas out the door and towards the reception area. When they got there, a lot more people stood around, some of them faces Cas recognized. They were all grinning in their direction, some not even pretending to be busy.

Dean groaned. “Seriously, guys? Don’t you have work to do? Go, catch some bad guys. You’re worse than the girls in Cas’ bakery.”

“Yeah, well,” some blonde woman spoke up. “They see you interact almost every day. We need to take what we can get.”

Dean only rolled his eyes as he steered Cas towards the elevator.

“Sorry ‘bout that,” he whispered, holding the door open for a moment.

Cas smiled back at him, not really able to decide if he was rather amused or embarrassed. “Don’t worry,” he said, refraining from giving Dean another kiss goodbye. “See you tomorrow?”

Dean only nodded with a secret little grin and then let the elevator door close.

Once he was alone, a bubbly little laugh escaped Cas. He’d just met probably most of Dean’s _Hunters_ and they all seemed to like seeing their boss with someone. He was sure there was no reason for him to be afraid that Dean might turn out like either Bart or Inias. He couldn’t stop smiling on his way back to the bakery.

 

~*~*~*~

 

_[Cas 5:36 pm] What’s your thoughts on pineapple?_

 

**[Me 5:40 pm] That totally depends. I would kill you if you’d put it on pizza.**

**[Me 5:43 pm] Please tell me you do not eat pineapple on your pizza!!**

 

_[Cas 5:45 pm] That’s blasphemous. Of course not!_

_[Cas 5:45 pm] But what do you think of it in pie?_

 

**[Me 5:47 pm] It would be your creation, so of course it will be awesome**

 

_[Cas 5:49 pm] Not helpful. Always remember my first attempt at a new pumpkin pie!_

 

**[Me 5:51 pm] Yeah, but now it’s delicious as fuck. So just try it. Play around, work your magic or whatever you do. I’ll try it later.**

**[Me 5:51 pm] … and you know what will happen when I like it ;)**

 

_[Cas 5:55 pm] Totally unrelated question: do you have time tonight? ;)_

_[Cas 6:13 pm] … Dean?_

_[Cas 6:27 pm] You won’t have to eat the pie if you don’t like it ..._

 

**[Me 7:05 pm] Sorry, Cas. Just got a break through and this case turned into an emergency. Won’t have time later and gotta go. I’ll text you tomorrow.**

 

Dean cursed as he switched off his phone. He didn’t want Cas to think he had been ignoring him but he had no time now to explain it.

“Dean, please sit still.”

“I can do this myself.”

Charlie just slapped his hand away as he tried to reach for the microphone she was taping to his chest.

“You really think this is a good place to put it? What if it gets heated and he’s ripping off my shirt?”

Giving him a grade A bitch-face, Charlie continued with testing the microphone before starting on the little camera-buttons that had to go on his tux.

“I know you don’t want it to get that far. Please remember what Sam said and – more importantly – that you have a boyfriend now.”

“He’s not –”

Another of her glares shut him right up and he rolled his eyes as he heard Benny and Kevin chuckle.

He really didn’t mind that Cas had shown up at his office today, but every free moment within the last few hours had been spent being teased mercilessly by some of the _Hunters_ and interrogated by others. Charlie had mostly squealed about finally having seen Cas as well – apparently, Jo had dropped a hint or two, that little traitor.

In the end there really was no denying it. Even before today it had been pointed out countless times that it was almost disgusting to watch him walk around with hearts in his eyes. He couldn’t help it, the thought of Cas made him happy, so why not just _be_ happy. And, damn, would he have loved to take Cas up on his offer of another night in with pie and … well, everything else that followed when Cas seduced him with pie.

But Kevin and Ash had found something disturbing about Dick Roman just a few hours ago: they’d monitored all the transactions and paperwork Roman had done recently and today a few loose ends had come together and finally made sense. The bastard was prepared to leave the country and to take their girls with him, leaving Alfie behind with absolutely nothing. Even though Sam had already asked them to use a bait, they still had thought they would have time to catch Roman red-handed with just any hook-up. But now, time was of the essence, since the plane tickets he had purchased today were for Monday morning.

Knowing from what Alfie had told them, Dean was exactly Roman’s type. Dean hated it. He had no problem with being the bait for once – hell, he’d been Bobby’s golden bait when he had been younger, for men and women alike. But now that Cas was in the picture … And he didn’t even have time to tell him. Time to explain to him fully what this job entailed. Just one more thing he hadn’t opened up about to Cas yet.

Damn all those old insecurities. Long before Will had even been born, Dean had suffered two heartbreaks due to his job, neither partner able to handle Dean having to play bait so often. There was a reason why he had people to do this job now. But no matter what his real job in the company was these days – if the _Hunters_ needed him as bait again, he would do it. And that’s something he should have told Cas.

Goddamnit.

Was it weird that it felt like cheating? They’d only been dating for two weeks, hadn’t even talked about what this was and if they wanted to be exclusive or not. But no matter how much Dean tried to tell himself that, it still felt wrong. It definitely felt like he was cheating on his boyfriend and that was the last thing he would do.

“Dean!”

“What?”

Dean looked up, finding the eyes of his team on him. Charlie held out the envelope with Dean’s invitation for this event. They had contacted Alfie right away when they found out about Roman’s plans and he had told them that they would be here tonight. Good thing Fergus Crowley was an old friend. It wasn’t the first time he would let them into his halls to solve a case, and his black and white gala on this fine Friday night was the perfect place to get that last piece of evidence Sam needed to take Roman down.

Nodding at his friends, Dean got up to put on his tuxedo coat before taking the envelope. He let Charlie fuss over him for just a few more seconds, before gently swatting her hands away and getting out of the surveillance car.

Once he got into the grand mansion, Dean put on his game face. He could worry about Cas later – and he swore to himself that they would definitely have that talk soon – but for now, this case was what was important. Having done this about one hundred times, Dean had no problems blending in with the crowd right away. He put on a charming smile, picked up one of the champagne glasses offered, and toasted towards the three ladies eyeing him up and down, his panty-dropping smile there without him having to try.

It wasn’t hard to find his target, Dick Roman being the kind of man that loved to be in the center of everyone’s attention. He saw him the moment he leaned against the railing next to the stairs leading down to the grand floor. From this higher level, people could overlook the whole floor below and Dean stayed for a few minutes, watching Roman interact. Alfie was by his side but he wasn’t regarded by any of the people around them, much less from his own husband. Instead, Dean witnessed how Roman’s eyes lingered on at least two younger men walking past him.

Good. The man had definitely not turned into a nun.

Since this wasn’t Dean’s first rodeo, he knew better than to jump right into Roman’s arms. But he had to make sure to catch his interest early on, lest the guy would wander off with someone else.

Although, Dean thought as he finally descended the wide staircase, if Kevin was able to catch that instead, it would make Dean’s life a hell of a lot easier. On the other hand, who knew if whoever else caught Roman’s interest would go as far as they needed the man to go? And in the room they had prepared?

Better not risk it.

Passing by the group, Dean made sure to look up at just the right moment. When Roman’s eyes landed on him, he put on his lopsided grin again, but otherwise just went on, the prickling sensation in his neck signaling someone’s gaze on him. He played that game for the next hour or so, always making sure to fit right in with the conversations of various groups close to Roman, letting their gazes meet over the crowd every so often.

When Crowley finally joined his own party, Dean stayed close to the man. Close enough to bump into him once Crowley was in a conversation with Dick Roman.

“Dean, my old friend,” Crowley greeted him, pulling him close for a hug that Dean had to suffer through whenever he was here. He counted it as a tip to their already high payment for Crowley staying such a close ally.

“Crowley, fancy meeting you here,” he replied once the man let go of him, sending him a big smile. He let it turn even bigger when his gaze wandered towards Roman, his eyes turning wide as in surprise just for effect. When he saw Roman’s grin turn pleasantly smug, he knew he’d already won.

Crowley’s hand was still on the small of his back – the bastard always enjoyed feeling him up. “Really, Dean? This is my party after all.”

“And you know how much I love joining it,” Dean replied without missing a beat.

With a soft chuckle, Roman made sure to participate in the conversation again. “Don’t you want to introduce your young friend here, Fergus?”

“Of course, my bad, Dick.”

Dean got the slight feeling that Crowley loved to call the man by this particular name.

“This is Dean Singer, a young and sometimes struggling artist. I admire his art, but even more do I admire the artist.”

“Indeed,” Roman replied, taking a sip of his champagne as he let his eyes roam Dean’s body.

After that, it was easy for Dean to pretend he was being roped up in a conversation with the man. But it wasn’t ideal, not yet. For one, Alfie was still there, even though Dean had given him clear instructions to leave his husband’s side as soon as he could. Maybe the poor guy tried to prevent the inevitable, but it made Dean’s job just a bit harder. So when a lady that was very clearly in her late sixties, maybe even early seventies, came up to him and asked for a dance without much ceremony, he accepted politely. Of course, he didn’t miss the chance as he excused himself from Roman to lean in and whisper, “I’d much rather _dance_ with you,” but that was all he could do for now.

The dancing was surprisingly fun, the lady not trying to feel him up as he had feared – solely out of experience with these events. Instead, she really just wanted to dance and with a good-looking partner at that, so Dean even gave in for a second round. After that, he escorted her back to the side of the dancefloor, said his goodbye, and moved back to where he’d last seen his target.

Only Roman wasn’t there anymore. Swearing internally, Dean didn’t let it show and subtly looked around. He could see Alfie sitting a bit further down on a chaise lounge, talking with a woman Dean wasn’t familiar with. Good. That meant for one, that Roman was still here, and for two, that he was now finally free. All he needed to do was find the man again. Not missing a beat in his steps, Dean went straight for the table with the fresh champagne glasses, as if that had been his goal from the start. He leaned against the table while he sipped on his drink, letting his eyes wander around the room.

“Quite the dashing dancer,” a voice remarked, and for a moment, Dean hoped it would be Roman, taking his chance to get Dean alone. But the voice was all wrong and when he turned, Dean saw a blonde man, probably a few years older than himself, but still quite handsome.

Very handsome, in fact.

Under different circumstances, the guy might have even been Dean’s type. Now though …

“Well, thank you.”

“Fancy another dance?”

At that moment, Dean’s eyes finally caught Roman again. The man was heading towards the bar. Perfect, it was showtime.

Quickly excusing himself from the guy with the funny accent – what even was that? Sounded like a mashup of British and French – he made his way over to the bar as well, stepping up right next to Dick Roman as the guy was in the process of ordering himself a whiskey.

“Make that two,” Dean ordered, sure to brush close to Roman.

The man’s eyes were on him right away and with a cheeky grin, Dean winked at him. “I was hoping for you to join me on the dancefloor. Maybe save me from that lady.”

“Oh, I thought about it,” Roman replied, nodding as the bartender put two glasses down. “But you looked quite content in Mildred Baker’s arms, so I didn’t want to ruin the fun.”

“Have you been watching me, Mr. Roman?” Dean asked, looking at the guy from under his long lashes, a grin playing around his lips.

Roman stared back with a look Dean knew all too well – dark, possessive. God, this had been way too easy. “All night long, Mr. Singer. All night long.”

Leaning in, Dean let his fingers wander over Roman’s expensive suit where prying eyes wouldn’t see, making sure to get his intentions across without a doubt. “Now, that rather sounds like a promise. I hope you intend to keep it.”

A slight growl was audible as Dean let his hand wander further up Roman’s side And hearing the noise, Dean had to be careful not to wince. Roman’s growl was having the direct opposite effect on him than when he heard the noise coming from Cas.

He had no idea if it was helpful in this moment to be thinking of Cas or not. It certainly helped him avoid throwing up when he felt Roman’s hand on his hip, imagining instead that it was Cas touching him.

“I always keep my promises, boy.”

_Oh really? Guess we wouldn’t be here if you really did, asshole._

Smiling, Dean leaned in, letting the back of his hand barely brush over Roman’s dick. “Why don’t you prove it?”

With that, Dean leaned back, sending the man a seductive wink. Taking his whiskey, he made his way over to a side of Crowley’s mansion where he knew they would have some privacy – and Kevin, hiding away and waiting for them.

As he passed the blond guy that had hit on him just minutes before, he could see the man looking at him with clear annoyance. He’d obviously witnessed Dean’s display, had probably watched him. Too bad Dean couldn’t tell him he wouldn’t have stood a chance either way. Dean was taken and happily so.

The thought nearly made his steps falter.

Maybe they hadn’t talked about it yet, but Dean knew what he wanted. Had known it from the beginning. This was more to him than just some loose dates – Cas was important to him. Maybe more than that. And he wanted the man in his life.

He would have that damn talk with him as soon as he could. Cas deserved to know and he could only hope he wouldn’t be as all these other guys before him.

But before he could do that, Dean had a job to concentrate on. He didn’t even have to wait two minutes until Roman was right there with him.

 

~*~

 

_[Cas 7:07 pm] That doesn’t sound good. Please be careful. And text me once you can? No matter the time._

 

Dean read the message as soon as he sat back in his car but he didn’t text Cas until he was standing in front of his house.

 

**[Me 0:27 am] I’m really sorry about this. I’ll tell you everything tomorrow. Well, not _everything_ , you know I can’t. Don’t worry about me though, I’m alright and at home now and the case went perfectly. We got him! Sleep well.**

 

For just a moment he thought about turning the car around and driving over to Cas’. He wanted nothing more but to get the taste of Dick Roman off and instead have Cas’ all over him again. He hadn’t lied to Jo when he’d said that it wasn’t all about the sex. Of course it wasn’t. But Jesus did he miss it. Last weekend had been amazing, and damn, did he want to explore Cas’ dominant side a bit more. Okay, a _lot_ more.

But he knew that Jo needed him. He’d been way too busy lately and besides that, Jo had run a slight fever this morning but had kicked him out of the house anyway. Thankfully, Eileen had been by to keep her company, but now he was antsy to check on her himself.

And he really, truly wanted to wash off the taste of Dick Roman.

He got inside and made sure all the doors and windows were closed and locked before heading upstairs. Checking on Will first, he pulled his blanket up and kissed his son goodnight. Down the hall he checked on Jo. She looked fine now, her sleep peaceful and her breathing even. Carefully, he put his hand on her forehead. It wasn’t headed or sweaty and Dean sighed in relief. He had no idea what it was that this pregnancy took such a huge toll on her.

Jo’s eyes blinked open and she smiled as she took him in. “Hey, Handsome.”

“Hey, Gorgeous. How do you feel?”

“Good. Tired.”

“Sorry for waking you,” he whispered, softly stroking her hair. “Just wanted to check on you.”

“Is okay. Happy you’re home and safe. Did you get him?”

“Of course. You think someone could say no to this?”

Jo had a hard time keeping her eyes open, but she blinked again just to look him up and down and a sleepy smile spread over her lips. “Course not. Most dashing prince in the country.”

“Yeah, alright Sleepy Beauty.”

“It’s Sleep _ing_ Beauty, Dean. Not sleepy.”

Leaning down, Dean kissed her already closed eyelids. “Maybe in the fairytale. But you’re definitely sleepy.”

Her reply was just an unintelligible mumble that made him smile.

“Want me to sleep here again tonight?”

Jo moved her head just minimal to indicate a “no”.

“You sure? No pain that needs to be taken care of or cold feet? No hormones that want you to cuddle with a strong and handsome guy?”

“Piss off, Dean,” Jo mumbled and with a chuckle, a whispered, “I love you too,” and a last kiss, Dean did as she had asked. He left the door to her room open so he could hear her if she needed him after all and made his way down the hall to his room. Only now did he think of checking his phone again. To his surprise, Cas had answered, even though the guy should have been long asleep.

 

_[Cas 0:30 am] I’m glad you’re okay. Sleep well. I have to be up soon. Love you._

 

Dean’s heart stopped for a moment. Cas loved him? He tried to stay calm. Tried to reason that the man was probably half asleep while typing this. But wouldn’t that mean that he was being even more honest?

A lot of feelings warred inside of him, but most of all excitement threatened to bubble over. He wanted this. He wanted Cas. And if he could trust a sleep-written text, Cas wanted him as well.

Grinning like a fool, Dean got up, deciding not to reply for now. It might wake up Cas again, and that he really didn’t want. Instead Dean undressed and jumped into the shower, finally and thoroughly washing off the taste of Dick Roman. God, he hoped Sam would be able to get every last penny for Alfie and the kids out of this to make Dean’s effort worth it.

Tired and drained, he fell into his bed, getting his phone out again. He read the _Love you_ over and over again and for the life of him, he couldn’t stop smiling. Eventually, he fell asleep over his phone.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Cas stared down at his phone.

_Oh dear God._

And Dean had read it and hadn’t answered.

 _Shit. Shit._ “Shit!”

What should he do? Dean was obviously not thrilled about this, right?

“Shit!”

“I really hope this is not how you greet all of your customers.”

Cas’ head snapped up at the familiar voice and instantly smiled.

“Zar!” He made his way around the counter to greet his old friend with a hug. “How have you been. And more importantly, since when have you been back?”

“I’m very good, Cassie dear, thank you. And about three days now.”

Leading Balthazar to one of the booths, Cas got them both a coffee and sat down for a few minutes, leaving the bakery to Hannah, Meg, and Kelvin, their newest addition to the staff.

“Three days? And you only show up now?”

“Well, I had some business to take care of first. And then there was this event at Crowley’s last night that I just couldn’t miss. It was all a bit hectic, but here I am now.”

“And for how long?” Cas asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

Zar did the same, smiling widely at Hannah when she came over with two pieces of pie for them. “Merci, ma chère.”

“Stop flirting with my staff and answer,” Cas said through some laughter, snapping in front of Zar’s eyes when his friend rather gazed after Hannah. “She’s married to my cousin anyway, so no chance there.”

“Lucky bastard.”

“I was talking about my cousin Raphaela.”

“Ah. Well, too bad. Except of course if they’re interested in a ménage à trois, then I’m all game,” he added, giving Castiel a saucy grin.

Cas knew his friend was only joking – well, partly – but he still fixed him with a hard glare. “If you touch my cousin, I’ll cut off your balls.”

“That would be tragic, so duly noted.” After taking a big bite of his pie, Zar finally deemed it the right time to answer Cas’ previous question. “And I’m actually not planning on leaving again. I just got a job at the hospital here in town. I’d heard they had an open spot and I took the opportunity.”

“Oh wow, Zar! That’s amazing.”

Balthazar Roché was one of the best surgeons out there. Over the past few years he’d been traveling constantly between being a high class surgeon for the rich people of Hollywood and working for Doctors Without Borders. It was hard to believe that his friend was content now with settling down in Lawrence, Kansas. But Cas wouldn’t say anything to it. Why question a blessing when it was given to you?

Time flew by as the two were catching up. Zar even asked about Dean, Cas having mentioned him a few weeks ago while they had Skyped. When Cas asked why he was asking, Zar chuckled.

“Because you had hearts in your eyes when you spoke about the guy the last time. Now tell me, did you finally make a move?”

“We … well, yes,” Cas admitted, grinning into his empty coffee cup. “We’ve been seeing each other for two weeks now.”

“Good for you, Cassie. Is it serious already?”

“I don’t know. But I hope so,” he admitted honestly. “Would you like to meet him? We’re going out tonight for a quiz night.”

“Well, sounds terrible, but at least I’ll have time to study your beau. Count me in.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part of the Chapter Title is from Elle King' song "Ex's & Oh's"


	8. Chapter 7: Hell is Truth Seen Too Late

** Chapter 7: Hell is Truth Seen Too Late **

 

Dean had texted Cas around seven, telling him that he was running late from work, the aftermath of the case from last night still with them. He apologized and told Cas to not wait for him, that he would join them as soon as he could or maybe just come over to him directly if it got too late at all.

Really hoping that wouldn’t be the case, Cas couldn’t rein in the smile splitting his face when he saw Dean enter the bar a little after ten o’clock after all. He’d missed quiz night, but it really didn’t matter to Cas. Dean was here and that was all that counted.

Getting up, he greeted his man with a deep kiss.

“Hey,” Dean whispered against his lips, his tense expression melting away into a softer one as he leaned in for another kiss.

Work must have really beaten him and Cas pulled him into a tight embrace, letting him catch his breath as he felt Dean melt against him. “You okay?”

“I am now,” Dean whispered into his ear, pulling him closer and making the butterflies in Cas’ stomach soar.

Someone behind them cleared their throat, but Cas didn’t move. If Dean needed him like this right now, he would stay as long as Dean wanted. But after another moment, Dean disentangled himself, gave him another kiss and a tired, but happy smile, and then stepped past Cas to get to the table.

He waved his hand in the general direction of the table to greet them all, getting various hellos and waves in return and then made to sit down – only to suddenly stop in his movement, freezing completely.

Cas followed the line of his gaze and squinted when it landed on Zar, his friend glaring daggers at Dean.

“You? You’re Cas’ Dean?”

Cas could see Dean’s eyes go wide as he took a step back from the table, raising his hands in defense. “Look, man, I can explain.”

Something cold dropped into Cas’ stomach. Something wasn’t right here, and he just knew he was missing some very important fact.

Zar was seething with rage and he was out of his chair within the next heartbeat, rounding the table to stand next to Cas. “The guy is a cheating bastard!”

“No!” Dean roared but Zar went on.

“I saw him, Cas! Last night at Crowley’s. He was there, making out with another guy.”

Cas could feel the cold something inside of him spread, letting his blood run cold and giving him a queasy feeling. Like he would throw up. “Dean?” he spoke up timidly, trying really hard not to overreact. Why was this happening? _What_ was happening? “What is Zar talking about?” He hated how small his voice sounded but he hated it even more that he had to ask Dean this question. He had _just_ convinced himself that Dean was different. That he was not like Bart.

But Zar wouldn’t lie about something like this.

And yet, Dean looked so heartbroken and earnest when he met his gaze.

“I swear to you, Cas. It is not what you think.”

The cold spread further. That was not the answer he had wanted. He’d wanted for Dean to say that Zar was lying. That he hadn’t made out with another guy. Beside him, he could hear Zar and a few others huff out in disbelief. He ignored them, just as he ignored the screeching of the chairs, telling him that at least some of his family and friends were getting up to confront Dean.

He solely kept his eyes on the man he had fallen in love with. “I don’t know what I’m thinking right now, so please explain it to me.”

“I did _not_ cheat on you –” A scoff next to Cas seemed to distract Dean as he looked up and fixed someone. Cas’ guess was on Zar. “I didn’t!”

“Oh, yeah sure. So that guy followed you to that private room to do what? Read you the bible?” Zar bit out and Cas had to close his eyes. Why was this happening to him?

_Again?_

Yet Dean’s next words let his eyes fly open, fixing the man right away. “That was my _job_!”

“Oh, so what?” Zar fired back. “You’re a hooker?”

“No! I’m a Private Investigator and that was part of a damn case!” Ignoring Zar after that, Dean turned back to Cas, talking directly to him. “Cas, you know I was on a case last night.”

“Do I?”

“I texted you.”

“So?”

Dean jerked back as if that simple word had been a slap in his face. Pain was written all over his features, but Cas could still feel the cold inside of him spread, making him numb. It had always been “work” for Bart as well. Until Cas had found out the truth. Had found out that all those extra hours at “work” had been spent in someone else’s bed.

He was numb, yet when Dean tentatively reached for him, Cas jerked his hand away and saw pure and raw agony in the man’s eyes. Somehow, that broke through all his numbness. So when Dean begged him with a whispered and broken, “Cas ... please -- please can we talk outside?” Cas simply nodded.

 

~*~*~*~

 

The night air helped Dean cool his head. He could not believe this was happening.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid._

He should have been open with Cas right away, and now it blew up into his face the very night he had planned to talk with him. Why hadn’t he met him earlier today? This stupid case kept him so late, and then Jo hadn’t felt all that well, her slight fever returning … he’d only left once Jo had called Charlie to come over and keep her company so she could kick him out, knowing full well how much he’d wanted to meet Cas.

And now this.

God, he could only hope Cas would listen.

There was hardly a quiet corner or a side alley where they could talk privately, so Dean had to make due with stepping aside, hoping this wouldn’t get loud enough for other people to catch on. He wasn’t allowed to talk about his cases, so telling Cas enough so he would see that Dean hadn’t been cheating was already pushing that line. No need for the whole crowd that had gathered outside for a smoke or some fresh air to hear his story as well.

“Alright, talk,” Cas said and just stopped, apparently deeming them far enough from the entrance.

Dean turned around and just looked at Cas for a moment. God, he’d already fallen hard for the guy. He couldn’t risk fucking this up.

“Alright, remember when I told you that my job within the company was mostly paperwork and boring stakeouts in the car? I wasn’t lying back then.”

Cas didn’t reply, but he crossed his arms over his chest, his stance not giving away if it was to shield away from the cool night air or to look even more pissed. Both were possible and Dean swallowed hard, praying for the right words. All he wanted was to hold Cas in his arms again. “I haven’t been in the field for a while now. But this case … Cas, that guy from last night was not only cheating on his husband, he also wanted to leave the country and take their kids with him, leaving the poor guy behind with nothing left.”

“And you seducing him was your only hope at solving the case?” Cas replied bitterly. He had every right to.

Dean shook his head. “First of all: nothing serious happened, I _swear_.” Cas huffed out in disbelief, but he didn’t interrupt him, so Dean went on. “And no, not at first. We thought we had time, not knowing about his plan to leave the country. But we found evidence for these plans yesterday and suddenly we had no time left.” Dean could feel himself speaking quicker, trying to make Cas understand. He forced himself to slow down, so his words wouldn’t just tumble out without making sense. It was also getting harder as his teeth started to chatter, probably more from the nerves that from the cold. “He’d bought plane tickets just that afternoon to leave on Monday. Sam is already working on getting an order that will forbid him to do so. But that wouldn’t have been possible without the evidence we got.”

“Dean, that makes no sense,” Cas finally interrupted, glaring at him. “Unless you actually slept with the guy, no judge will let some make-out session count as cheating. Although it damn well feels like it,” Cas added in a bitter tone.

And damn, Dean wished he could explain all the little details of this case to him. But he just couldn’t. At least not here, out in the open.

“I know that. Cas trust me, _I know_. I felt terrible the whole time.” He couldn’t stop himself from reaching for Cas, just wanting to hold him again. Of course, he should have known better, because Cas jerked away from his hand once more, piercing his heart. Swallowing hard, Dean tried to hold back the tears. Cas had every right to act like this and Dean certainly deserved to feel like shit.

“If you don’t believe that, please at least believe me that I did not sleep with him. This is a complicated case that has been with us for weeks now. Months even. We had a lot of little bits and pieces and Sam had confirmed beforehand that all we needed were some compromising pictures and voice recording. Just some evidence of him while he was kissing and groping another guy.”

Cas didn’t look pleased by this information, which certainly was understandable. Sighing, Dean pulled on his hair, trying not to let his heart break into a million pieces. How could he have been so stupid?

“Look, I know how this must look. Trust me, I do. But … cheating is the last thing in the world I would do. I mean, Cas, it’s part of my job to _catch_ people who do that. And I’m so good at it because I hate it when they do it to their partners. Hate it with a passion. And -- and I wish I had told you sooner what my job requires of me sometimes –”

“Why didn’t you?” Cas interrupted his rambling, his voice harsh, but also somehow begging.

Dean looked at him, searching every inch of his face for a small sign that Cas might forgive him. Just a small one. There was no question here that his only chance was complete honesty. And that meant baring his heart. “Because you wouldn’t have been the first guy to run away, not being able to cope with it.” Cas huffed out an unamused laugh but Dean went on anyway. “I’ve been left over this before. Back when I started working for my uncle and had to do this on a regular base. But it’s not like this anymore, Cas, I swear. I haven’t had to do this in years now. So … I thought I had time. And I wanted to give you that time to get to know me. To know I’m not like that.” Shaking his head in defeat, Dean couldn’t believe the irony of all that. “And it completely backfired,” he choked out, more to himself than to Cas. Turning away slightly, he quickly brushed his hand over his face, trying to get rid of that one stupid tear that was running down his face. Crying would get him nowhere here.

He didn’t realize how long they’d been silent until Cas’ timid voice broke it. “Do you swear there was nothing more but the kisses and some groping.”

“Yes!” Dean replied without hesitation, quickly turning back towards Cas. He reached for him again but stopped himself halfway through. Another rejection from Cas and the knife in his heart would actually kill him. “Cas, none of my agents ever take that last step and neither did I. Sometimes they will go as far as getting undressed just so the pics will be even more compromising, but I didn’t have to. And I wouldn’t have done it even if it had been required. Not anymore!”

“Why not?”

“Because I felt like a cheating bastard as it was, I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I’d gone further.”

A barely there smile played around Cas’ lips, giving Dean a minute shred of hope.

Yet Cas had more questions. “Why did it have to be you in the first place?”

“Because we knew I am his type. And it needed to be quick and simple, we couldn’t risk him getting away.”

“His husband … he’ll be able to divorce him now and get custody over the kids?”

Dean nodded. “If Sam does his job right, then yes. And Sammy is one hell of a lawyer, I can promise you that.”

Cas still wouldn’t look at him, but he seemed to be deep in thought. Dean gave him the time he needed and was rewarded when Cas finally nodded, the tight hold of his arms around his chest slowly loosening.

“I guess I don’t even really have the right to be angry with you, now do I? I mean, we never clarified what this is between us.”

That caught Dean off guard but he was quick to reply anyway. “No, we didn’t. But you still have every right to be angry.” It was now or never, so Dean took a deep breath and then jumped. “And if I hadn’t known it already, these feelings last night – like -- like I was cheating on you – they clearly proved it to me. Cas, I know exactly what I want this to be.” That finally got Cas to look back at him, so Dean continued. “I read your text from last night and it made me really happy.”

“It did?” Cas asked, his voice small.

“Yes,” Dean replied, smiling at Cas. “Yes, it did.”

Dean’s phone vibrated in his back pocket, but he ignored it. Instead, he risked a hesitant step in Cas’ direction. “And … I really want this between us to work. I want this to be an exclusive relationship.”

Cas was gaping at him, however, Dean took it as a good sign. He gulped, took another small step, and went on.

“And I want to be completely honest with you. We’re just starting to get to know each other and there’s still so much you don’t know about me. But I want you to. I want to sit down with you and tell you everything. And I want to hear everything from you.”

Cas was still gaping, his eyes flying over Dean’s face rapidly. Finally getting a bit anxious, Dean swallowed hard and then reached for Cas’ again, slowly, tentatively. And this time, Cas did not jerk away and it made Dean’s breathing hitch as he realized that instead, Cas allowed him to draw him into an embrace. Dean clung to him, burying his face in Cas’ neck.

“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

His phone vibrated again, momentarily distracting him. But when Cas’ arms wound around him, he ignored it again as he lifted his head to look in those beautiful blue eyes. There was still some resistance in Cas. Dean could see it and he could feel it – but he could also understand it.

“Cas, I’m sorry. And … I’m even more sorry because there’s still so much to tell you. But if you let me, I’ll sit down with you right now and we can talk about it.”

“You mean to tell me that you’ve kept more secrets from me?”

“Have you not?” Dean replied without thinking, only to wince right away. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry that was –”

But Cas already shook his head. “No. No, you’re right. I … I had two very bad relationships and … I guess they made me cautious. So you’re right.”

“Two? Well, not that I want this to look like a competition, but besides the two people leaving me for my job, I had five more running from me because of that other secret.”

When he saw Cas go pale, he chuckled nervously. “It’s … nothing bad, really. I … I just never found the right way to approach it. I tried being open about it right away – they ran. I tried telling them later – they ran. I … I guess I’ll just have to trust that –”

His phone rang again, finally annoying him enough to groan. “Oh for Heaven’s sake.”

“What is it?” Cas asked confused, as Dean let go of him with one hand, reaching for his back pocket.

He was about to reply when he caught the caller’s ID.

It was Charlie.

“Fuck. Fuck, no!”

“Dean?”

But Dean didn’t listen anymore as he turned out of Cas’ embrace and answered the call.

“Charlie?”

_“Dean, finally! Okay, so please don’t freak –”_

“What’s going on?”

_“I said don’t freak.”_

“Charlie!”

_“I brought Jo to the hospital –”_

“WHAT?!”

_“It’s okay, Dean. The fever just wouldn’t go away and she felt a bit weak. Jo is fine, she was still talking to me and all. The doctors are checking her over right now and –”_

“I’m on my way.”

_“Dean –”_

Dean didn’t hear the rest, simply ending the call.

Fuck!

He should have just stayed home tonight. None of this would have happened if he had.

“Dean?”

Turning around, Dean was met with Cas’ concerned gaze and _God fucking damnit_! Why had he waited so long? Fuck, he wished he could take Cas with him. But right now was really not the time.

“Is everything alright? Dean, you’re scaring me.”

“No. No, it’s … a close friend of mine. She’s having issues with her pregnancy and she’s in the hospital right now.” _Oh, and by the way, she’s carrying our second child._

“Oh my God, Dean!”

“I …” Dean felt rooted to the spot while everything inside of him was screaming to run back to the bakery where he had parked his car and get to Jo. But he couldn’t move away from Cas. “I’m so sorry. Cas, I know this is _the worst_ moment ever –”

“Dean, I’m not heartless, okay? Go. Be with your friend. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

He probably didn’t even deserve this wonderful man.

“Promise me we’ll get through this?” he begged. “That we’ll talk about everything? I … I don’t want to lose you over this. Please?”

He saw the moment the last piece of resistance broke within Cas and a heartbeat later, Cas leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to his lips.

“I promise,” Cas whispered as he leaned back. “Now go!”

And Dean did just that, running as fast as he could to get to his car.

 

~*~

 

Charlie had been right. There was no real reason to worry, other than the fact that this whole pregnancy was not the easiest one. So the doctor decided to keep Jo overnight, just to be safe, and since Dean made sure she got a single room, he and Will were even allowed to stay. Check-ups the next day dragged out endlessly, but as long as Dean was sure that it would help Jo and the baby, he didn’t mind.

In the end, it was already late afternoon by the time they finally got back home. They had an appointment with Jo’s doctor, Missouri Moseley, on Monday anyway, so the hospital felt confident to send her home for the night with the clear instruction to rest.

Once he’d settled Jo on the couch and had put on a family movie for the three of them to watch, Dean finally got out his phone again. He had a few unread text messages, but he answered Sam and Charlie’s first, giving them quick updates so they could spread the word.

Then he opened Cas’ text.

 

_[Cas 1:02 pm] How’s your friend doing?_

 

A tight fist squeezed around Dean’s heart. He wanted to drive over and tell Cas everything. But right now, Jo needed him, so their heart-to-heart had to wait.

 

**[Me 3:47 am] She’s doing better. The pregnancy is hard on her and she has to take it slow.**

 

He didn’t expect an answer right away, but Cas was quick.

 

_[Cas 3:48 pm] Poor thing. But good to hear she’s better now._

 

**[Me 3:51 am] Would you hate me if I didn’t come over today? I think I should stay with her, in case she needs anything. Or in case it’s turning worse again.**

 

_[Cas 3:51 pm] Of course I wouldn’t hate you! Do what’s best for your friend right now._

 

**[Me 3:52 am] Thank you. You’re the best, you know?**

**[Me 3:52 am] I’m still terribly sorry for what happened and that I had to leave you like that right after our talk.**

 

_[Cas 3:55 pm] Dean, we’ll talk about that another time. And about everything else we clearly still have to talk about. But for now, please don’t worry about us. Stay with your friend and text me once you’ll have time for me again, okay?_

 

**[Me 3:56 am] Okay. Thank you**

**[Me 3:58 am] <3**

 

_[Cas 5:59 pm] :D_

_[Cas 5:59 pm] <3_

 

Smiling, Dean put the phone aside and pulled Jo closer. It seemed Cas had forgiven him and Dean thanked his lucky stars for that. And if they could pull through a misunderstanding like this, Dean was sure the whole “by the way, I already have a son, a second kid is on its way, and oh yeah, I’m living under one roof with the mother of my kids, but hey, we’re not a couple”-talk would go by smoothly.

He just wished this nagging feeling of something else going wrong would just go away.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title is a quote from Thomas Hobbes


	9. Chapter 8: Letting the Old Demons out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for Alcohol as a coping mechanism!!

** Chapter 8: Letting the Old Demons out **

 

Cas was still a bit antsy come Monday morning.

After a long debate with himself, he was surprised to come to the realization that he trusted Dean. Their talk on Saturday night had been so open and sincere, and while the thought of Dean making out with another guy still stung, he found it was bearable, knowing that Dean had felt terrible while doing so. But there was also the fact that Dean seemed to have another secret. And of course Cas’ friends and family constantly trying to tell him that he shouldn’t believe the man.

He really wished Dean would have stopped by yesterday, but he’d seen how frantic he’d looked when he’d gotten the call. Dean had been downright terrified and Cas could understand that he wanted to be there for his friend, even though he was a bit surprised he hadn’t heard about her until now.

Well, they certainly still had a lot to talk about.

“Goddamnit, Castiel,” Meg hissed, taking the pie shovel away from him to serve the customer that seemed to be waiting for a piece of pie.

Realizing that he had probably spaced out halfway through getting the order done, Cas mumbled an apology and hastily retreated to the back. Lily was the first to follow him.

“Castiel.”

“I’m alright.”

She hesitated for a moment, but then went right on. “Look, I know I haven’t known you that long and you’re my boss, so I should probably not say this. But you’re totally not you today.”

Sighing, Cas brushed a hand down his face.

“I apologize for that.”

“It’s okay. Everybody can have a bad day now and then.”

Castiel didn’t reply to that, only nodded.

“If you want to get out of here for a moment, I’m sure Meg, Kelvin, and I have it covered.”

“You sure? I’d rather not leave you alone with the new guy.”

“Kelvin’s doing fine so far. It’s not like he doesn’t have experience working in bakeries.” Well, that at least was true. “Come on, Castiel. I think we both know you need some fresh air.”

No, what he really needed was to see Dean. To clear all this up. To hold the man again, if only for a few moments. Damn, he missed him so much it almost hurt.

“Alright,” Cas agreed – after all, no one needed to know where exactly he would take some fresh air. “Guess you’re right.”

Lily smiled and nodded in encouragement before stepping back out of the kitchen.

Taking off his apron, Cas made a quick run upstairs for his keys and his wallet, making sure he had his phone in his pants pocket already, and then went back downstairs. Ignoring Meg’s dark gaze, as she’d probably guessed where he was going, Cas waved at Lily and Kelvin and was out of the door a moment later.

The spaces in front of the PI agency were all packed, leaving him no other choice but to park further down the street. As he passed Dean’s Impala on his walk to the office, he let his hand run softly over the black metal. He really loved this car and he wondered if Dean would be opposed to getting naughty in the backseat one day.

Speaking of the backseat …

Cas squinted as he took a step back, his eyes landing on a children’s seat sitting there. What was that about?

A cold feeling crept back inside of Cas and before he could try to fight it with reality and logic, a door further down the street opened and Dean’s voice weaved through the air. Looking over, Cas saw the man talking on the phone, standing in front of his office and looking in the direction of the main street.

Castiel hesitated, not wanting to interrupt Dean while he was working. So instead of walking over, he witnessed how a smile spread over Dean’s face when a yellow bug parked on the other side of the street and how he ended the call right away. Following his line of sight, Cas saw one of Dean’s _Hunters_ exiting the car on the driver’s side. It was the redhead he’d met on Friday – Charlie?

While another woman exited the car on the passenger side, Charlie opened the back-seat door and helped a young boy get out.

As the boy looked up, a wide grin spread over his face – one that instantly reminded him of Dean.

“Dad!”

Cas’ heart stopped and without a conscious decision, he found himself taking three quick steps back, his back pressed against the wall of a side alley.

_No. No no no no. Please, oh God. Please don’t be so cruel._

He could hear Dean’s reply of, “Hey, buddy,” the happiness evident in his voice. “You excited?”

“Yes!” Cas heard the little boy reply with the enthusiasm only a kid could have.

He was paralyzed. Dean had a son? A _son_? Why … why hadn’t he told him?

_There’s still so much you don’t know about me._

Dean’s words and all his hints from two nights ago rang in his ears.

Oh God, was that the secret he’d been hiding?

But … why?

Everybody had a past and … okay, so he had a son. It felt weird that he hadn’t told him in the … what even was it? Ten weeks or something since they’d first met?

While Cas tried to sort his thoughts, he heard Dean thanking Charlie for “dropping them off”, and something about a “Dick case” that apparently had worked all out – and what the hell was going on?

Cas’ thoughts were a mess. He wanted to run away, wanted to not be here. But now he was and maybe it was for a reason. Carefully peeking around the corner, he saw Dean, his son in his arm, and the blonde woman waving at Charlie as the redhead went inside the building.

Dean’s next movement stabbed a shard of cold ice right through Cas’ heart.

The man put his free arm around the blonde’s shoulder, drew her in and gave her a soft kiss to her temple as they began to walk towards his car and in Cas’ direction.

“Hey, Gorgeous. How are you feeling?”

“Alright, I guess,” she replied, winding her arm around his torso, her other hand holding Dean’s hanging over her shoulder.

Cas didn’t hear what else they were talking, a high-pitched ringing in his ear. What the hell was happening? But then he saw it – the baby bump!

Could this be Dean’s friend? The one with the problems during her pregnancy? Okay, Dean had a son and he had been secretive about it, but that didn’t mean he was a cheating bastard with a wife and another baby on its way, right? Maybe this baby wasn’t his and maybe he wasn’t involved with the woman in his arms. That was completely possible, _right?_

He’d been so caught up in his thoughts, he’d hardly recognized that the trio was already by the car. Pressing back inside the alley, Cas wished he wouldn’t have to hear the next words spoken.

The word that drew the icy shard even deeper and shattered his world.

“Alright,” Dean’s voice rang so damn close. “Who’s ready to find out if they’re getting a little brother or sister?”

_No, no please no._

“Meeee!!”

“Alrighty, then let’s go.”

“Dad, if I don’t get a sister this time, will you and Mommy get me another sibling?”

_Oh God, please make it stop._

“Of course, buddy.”

“Dean! Don’t make him this promise,” Cas heard the woman say as the first door fell shut. “I’m not going to carry out another Winchester after what this little bugger is putting me through.”

“Well then, Gorgeous, you better pray you’re carrying a girl inside of you or we’ll have to go at it again.”

Cas pressed a hand over his mouth to keep the sobs inside. The last thing he needed right now was to draw attention to himself because he couldn’t -- he just couldn’t face Dean in this moment.

“Urgh, I hate you so much sometimes,” the woman protested but her voice was so full of mirth it almost made Cas’ stomach turn.

“I know. I love you too,” Dean replied before Cas heard the next and then a few moments later the last car door close. The engine roared right away and finally, the car drove off.

The second it was gone, Cas turned around and threw up, his body shaking with the gagging and heavy sobs.

How could he have been so mistaken? How could he have trusted Dean so much only to be played with again?

But Dean wasn’t like Bart, no.

No, Dean was a second Inias, and that was so, so much worse.

At that thought, Cas gagged again, letting his tears run freely as he leaned against the cold brick stone in the empty side alley, while his heart shattered into a million pieces.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Dean couldn’t believe what he was seeing on the ultrasound. He held Jo’s hand, letting a tear of joy slip down his face and not caring who would see it.

“So I’m getting a little sister?”

“Yes, young man. There’s no doubt left now,” Missouri replied, smiling at the boy. She’d already brought Will into this world and now she would help them bring their daughter here as well.

Their daughter!

They were having a baby girl.

Dean was bursting with joy while he watched Missouri push a few buttons. A little picture was printed out and she handed it to Dean, patting him on his arm before sending the two boys outside so she could go on with the rest of the screening.

The hallway was noisy, but nothing of it registered with Dean. All he cared about was the warmth of his son sitting in his lap, and the warmth that spread through him as he was looking at the little picture.

They were really having a little baby girl.

_I need to show Cas._

The sudden thought didn’t even give him pause anymore. It only made the grin on his lips spread wider, as well as the warmth inside of him.

Pulling his son closer, Dean rested his chin on the boy’s head as they both watched the picture of the new sunshine in their life. And Dean knew, without even a shred of doubt, that he wanted Cas to be part of their life.

Their life, not just his own.

“Dad, can I name her?”

“That depends, buddy. What would you name her?”

As Will listed a few silly girl names, Dean got his phone out. He was still paying attention to his son but typed out a message to Cas anyway.

 

**[Me 1:22 pm] Do you have time later? Something wonderful just happened and I want to tell you :) <3**

 

Waiting for a reply Dean wasn’t too surprised when nothing came. Cas was probably busy with the lunch rush, so he put his phone away, and continued to hug his son and watch the picture of his daughter. He couldn’t wait for Cas to finally meet his family.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Castiel stared at his phone, not believing what he was reading. What the hell was Dean talking about? Something wonderful? Wasn’t he with his wife, finding out about the gender of their baby? What? Did he want to tell him what it was?

Cas scoffed and threw his phone on the bed.

“I told you he’s an asshole. You should have listened to me!”

“Yeah, thanks Zar, very helpful.”

Cas felt like shit.

He’d gotten back to the bakery and had gone straight to his loft, ignoring the questioning gazes of his staff. About thirty minutes later, Zar and Gabriel had found him in his bedroom, buried deep under his blankets. During all the crying and sobbing he’d told them about what had happened.

It took some time, but soon enough the tears were gone, replaced by hollowness and anger. Pure and deep anger that only got stoked by Dean’s text message. The audacity of that asshole.

With his head more clear, he’d also put a few more puzzle pieces together and by now he was pretty sure that the woman he’d seen and Dean’s “friend” with the pregnancy problems were the very same person. No wonder Dean had been so frantic to get to the hospital the other night. And yet, even in that state, he’d still been able to lie to Cas’ face without hesitation or even blinking an eye. A _friend_ , yeah, right!

Cas scoffed.

“I’m so done with being the victim,” he finally bit out, some more tears forming in his eyes. They were angry tears, hot and scalding. “I’m done with guys playing with my heart and getting away with it.”

“Then don’t let them get away with it!” Gabriel replied, getting up from the chair he’d been sitting in.

Nodding, Zar got up from the bed as well, looking down at Castiel. “Gabe’s right. Turn the tables on this one.”

“What?” Cas breathed out. They weren’t making sense at all.

Yet, Gabriel seemed to get what Zar was saying. “Exactly. Make sure he’s the one being played with in the end. Give him a taste of his own medicine.”

“You’re not making any sense.”

“Au contraire mon amour,” Zar replied, getting his phone out before pointing at Gabe. “I got this covered. You make sure he’ll look presentable for when Dean shows up.”

“On it,” Gabe replied and before Cas could protest, Zar was on the phone and Gabe pulled him out of bed and over into his bathroom.

 

~*~

 

The plan was stupid, Cas knew that. And it would most likely hurt Dean and probably deeply, he knew that as well.

But Goddamnit was he done with being hurt by others. He’d trusted Dean. He’d trusted him and forgiven him for not telling him about his job. He couldn’t believe now some of the things Dean had told him, like the parts about not cheating. He’d lied right to his face without any qualm.

Remembering all that was what pushed Cas to listen to Zar and Gabe and when the bells above the bakery’s door chimed shortly after six and Dean entered, he quickly gave a nod in a certain direction.

“Cas, hey,” Dean greeted him, his smile wide and radiating. It was like a punch to Cas’ heart, stoking the seething rage even more. “Sorry, I know you didn’t reply, but I thought I’d stop by anyway, take my chances.”

As he kept on grinning, Cas had a hard time falling into the role his brother and friend wanted him to play. Dean looked so honest and so happy to see him, and Cas wanted nothing more but to believe this lie and just sink into his arms.

But then he remembered what he’d seen and heard just a few hours ago and the cold ice inside of him took hold.

“Dean,” he greeted, trying not to just confront the man. He knew Dean would try to find a way to get himself out of this and he just wouldn’t let that happen.

It seemed he didn’t have enough control over his voice after all, Dean’s smile dropping right away. “Cas, you okay? Did something happen?”

The real concern in Dean’s voice only fueled Cas’ anger further and it finally pushed him over the edge. Time to get this show on the road.

Taking off his apron, leaving the clean-up to Meg and Lily, he went around the counter. “Actually, it did, yes. You showing up here wasn’t planned.”

“Ehm … sorry,” Dean replied, looking startled, either by Cas’ words or by his dark tone. Probably both, it didn’t really matter. “Thought I’d surprise you.”

“Yeah, sorry. That will make this really awkward now. Dean, this is Cain,” Cas said, pointing to the man that had been sitting in one of his booths, waiting just for this moment. Making sure Dean had enough time to take in Cain’s appearance and to look back at Cas in question, he finally finished his sentence. “He’s my date for tonight.”

Dean looked dumbfounded and at a loss for words for a moment, before only one tumbled out. “Date?”

Cas really wished his heart wouldn’t hurt like that when he saw Dean’s face. It would probably take some time to get rid of those feelings and for that, he even began to hate the man a little bit.

“Yeah, my _date_ ,” he declared with emphasis. “I know this is awkward, but I hadn’t planned for you two to run into each other.”

“Cas, I …” Dean began, his gaze searching over every inch of Cas’ face. “I don’t understand. What’s going on?”

“Well, allow me,” Cain spoke up as he stood and put his arm around Cas’ waist. Dean jerked back like he’d been slapped. “Really sorry you had to find out like this. Did Cas not tell you that he has been seeing other guys for the last few months?”

Cas had a hard time keeping the emotions from his face. Especially when Dean only gaped at them, his lips moving as if he was trying to form words but not knowing what to say. His gaze finally settled on Cas and his voice sounded strangled, almost begging. “I thought we’d talked about this? I thought we decided to be exclusive?”

_What an ass! Standing here, saying this – while his pregnant wife is at home with their kid. Disgusting!_

“No, Dean. _You_ said that. I never replied to it.”

He could see Dean swallowing hard and if he wasn’t mistaken, his eyes even began to water. It seemed the man was really hurting, which was maybe even proof that Dean really did have feelings for him. But he was still a cheating bastard and Cas was sure if he’d confronted him with his wife by his side, Dean would have reacted differently. He’d probably reacted just like Inias.

“Can …” Dean swallowed hard before he started over again. “Cas, can we please talk about this?” he breathed out, even reaching for him.

But Cas was done with Dean’s mind tricks and those damn green eyes that looked so earnest while hiding so many secrets.

“I don’t think there’s much to talk about, Dean. You want to go steady, I don’t. As you can see, there are just too many other options.”

With that, he let Cain steer him past the shocked man and escort him outside to Cain’s car. He got in, not looking back at all. But once the car had pulled away from the curb and was most likely out of sight from the bakery, Cas let his tears run freely again.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Dean felt numb.

He had no idea how he’d gotten out of the bakery or how he’d made it to his car. He didn’t even remember the drive, so he had no idea how he’d ended up in his garage with a new bottle of whiskey on the passenger seat.

He was numb.

And still, he knew that his heart had just broken into a million pieces. It had never hurt like this before, with no one else – and that told him all he needed to know.

He’d loved Cas, more than anyone else before him.

And the guy had just ripped his heart out and stomped on it.

_You want to go steady, I don’t._

Shaking his head over how stupid he’d been, Dean only came to when he felt the cold bottle in his hand.

Over four years now. He hadn’t gotten drunk for over four years now, and not even his breakup with Aaron had broken him. Without hesitation, he opened the cap and took a swig, the strong alcohol burning down his throat.

Jo and Will were inside the house somewhere, but Jody had come over earlier to stay with them. They were alright.

He took another swig.

And Cas was out with another guy, an older one at that – was that what he really wanted? Some older dude?

Another swig.

Cas was right, he’d never answered Dean on Saturday night. Dean had just taken his silence as an affirmation.

The swig was longer this time, two deep gulps burning away the lump in his throat.

He’d wanted to let him in. He’d come over to tell him about his son and the daughter Jo was carrying.

Another swig.

He’d thought Cas was different – honest, good, loveable.

Another, longer swig.

He _was_ lovable. Because fuck it all, Dean loved him.

He loved him so damn much and his heart hurt, so Dean put the bottle to his lips for real and tried to wash away the memories and the pain one gulp at a time.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title from the song "Old Demons" by The Dear Hunter


	10. Chapter 9: Queen of Hearts

** Chapter 9: Queen of Hearts **

 

Cas was in the kitchen the next day when he heard the commotion out front. Putting the dough roll aside he cleaned his hands and went to see what was going on. His heart dropped to the floor when he saw Dean’s wife as well as another woman standing there, both looking furious. He wasn’t sure, but it was possible the second woman was from Dean’s office. At least her face looked familiar.

“You!” Dean’s wife said, pointing right at him. “How dare you?”

Quickly looking around, Cas was relieved to find the bakery empty except for his close friends. Zar was sitting at the counter, his face already red with anger, and so was Meg’s. Hannah and Nora looked like they were trying to hold the two of them back and the woman that accompanied Dean’s wife looked like she was eyeing them, ready to pull the pregnant lady out of harm’s way.

As thankful as Cas was for the empty bakery at this moment, he knew it didn’t have to stay this way for long. The last thing he needed was to have this conversation right here.

“Please, can we take this to the back?”

“What, you don’t want your friends to know what kind of cheating bastard you are?”

“Hey!” Meg exclaimed, and Cas could see Hannah’s hand fly out to press Zar back into his seat. Cas held out a single hand to calm his friends down. The woman in front of them was just as much a victim as he had been and he needed to remember that. He just wondered how she’d suddenly found out.

Turning back to her, he tried to keep his voice even. “Listen, I understand you’re furious. But I think you should know that I had no idea. He tricked me just like he tricked you.”

“What?!” Both women looked at him, confusion written all over their faces.

Before Cas could clarify, Zar jumped in. “He meant that no matter what your cheating husband told you, Cas had no idea.”

“My _what_?” Dean’s wife exclaimed.

Her companion, however, groaned as if she’d just had an epiphany. “Oh my God, they think you and Dean are married.”

“ _What?_ No!” the pregnant one exclaimed, looking from her friend to Cas in bewilderment. “Oh God, no. Why the hell would you think that?”

“Probably ‘cause you’re carrying his spawn?”

The way she fixed Meg with an evil glare for her comment, Cas was momentarily scared for his friend’s life. Before she answered, the woman put one hand on her belly as if on instinct to protect the child from such negativity.

“Okay, listen. I’m Jo Harvelle, this is Jody Mills, and Dean and I aren’t together!”

“So this isn’t his child?” Lily spoke up, probably trying to save the whole situation and clear things up.

But Jo shook her head. “It’s actually none of your business, but if you must know: yes, this is Dean’s child. But no, we’re not in a relationship. We’re _friends_.”

“It sure as hell didn’t sound like that yesterday,” Cas finally intervened whatever else his friends wanted to say, letting all his bitterness wash into his words. What kind of crazy game was this?

“Yesterday?” Jody asked and Cas nodded.

“I wanted to see Dean. Surprise him at his office again. And I saw you there. _Together_ ,” he clarified as he looked back at Jo.

A moment later her eyes went wide. “Oh my God. Oh God, _please_ tell me you did not do all _that_ because of what you saw in front of Dean’s office!”

This time, Zar really did get up. “Listen, you better stop talking like that to my friend –”

“No, you better _shut up_ ,” Jo interrupted him, pure venom in her voice before her angry gaze was back on Cas. “ _Tell me_ you did not cheat on Dean because you saw us interacting and just drew your conclusion without even asking!”

Something felt really, really wrong here and Cas was beginning to have a bad feeling because of it. He had no idea what to say, but Jo was still staring him down, her hand slowly rubbing over her baby bump.

“I didn’t cheat on Dean. I could never –”

“Cas!” Zar tried to stop him, but Cas ignored it.

“I could never do that. Cain is an old friend and he was willing to play the role.”

Both women looked shocked and it was Jody who found her voice again first. “But … _why?_ ”

Slight anger rose inside of Cas. How could they not understand his point of view? “Do you have any idea how it feels to realize you’re just some married guy’s dirty little secret?”

“But Dean and I _aren’t married!_ ” Jo yelled, Jody actually trying to soothe her while Jo’s hand still rubbed protectively over her belly.

Cas shook his head. “But I didn’t _know that_.”

“You could have _asked_.”

“For him to taunt me and deny it in front of you? Yeah, no, thanks. Been there, done that!” A tear spilled down his cheek as the anger inside of him boiled over again, Inias’ face appearing in front of him.

Jo’s furious words brought him right back to the presence. “You selfish ass. Do you have any idea what you have done? You broke _his heart_!” Jo’s face was weirdly contorted, something other than anger mixing into it. Her hand was constantly flying over her belly now, but she still went on. “Because of you, he even started to drink again.”

“He what?” Cas choked out, almost missing Jody’s concerned whisper of, “Jo?”

“We found him this morning, blacked out in his car.”

“Jo,” her friend said once more, but Jo didn’t listen, although she was suddenly leaning heavily against the other woman.

“And you’re the ass that drove him to drink again. Goddamnit, he loves you and you – _arrrghh_.”

Before Cas could react, Balthazar was right by Jo’s side, the doctor helping her sit down. All thoughts of Dean were suddenly gone as Jo gasped once and then passed out.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Dean was glad Jody had been here to take Will to kindergarten and go on a spa day with Jo afterwards. He didn’t want his son to see him like this and he certainly didn’t want Jo to fuss over him even more than she’d already done this morning. God, he felt like an ass. And Jo had been so right. Of course she had been, she was always right. But this time especially, because no guy was worth falling back into the alcohol. Dean had never been an alcoholic, not really. But they both knew he had used it one too many times in the past to cope with the shit in his life. He’d been sober for over four years now, and he’d let Cas push him right off the cliff.

_You want to go steady, I don’t. There are just too many other options._

Cas’ words still rang in his head and they hurt so damn much. A silent tear slipped down his cheek as he drank his second cup of coffee.

 _Heartbeat_ from Bad Company played from his phone next to him on the couch and Dean groaned. Jo probably wanted to check in on him, and as tempting as it sounded to not pick up, Dean decided against it. There was no way in hell he would stress her out by making her worry over him even more than she already did.

“Hey, Jo.”

The voice that answered was probably the last he’d expected: _“Dean, it’s me.”_

Dean sat up straight right away. What the fuck was Cas doing with Jo’s phone?

_“Dean, you need to come to the hospital.”_

“Cas, where’s Jo?”

_“She … she came to the bakery and … we talked and she suddenly was in pain. We took her to the hospital and –”_

“I’m on my way!” Dean replied, ending the call, not able to listen to the man even a second longer.

_Fuck._

_Fuck, fuck, fuck._

Jo had gone to confront Cas. What the fuck had happened to her damn day at the spa? She knew any kind of stress could endanger herself and the pregnancy, so why the fuck would she go and confront this cheater?

Dean knew the answer, of course he knew, but he just couldn’t think about it or he would drive himself crazy. Instead, he hurried to throw on a pair of jeans and got his car keys. Thank God he was sober again and hadn’t picked up a bottle this morning like he had wanted to.

The drive to the hospital was a nightmare as Dean tried not to speed. He would be no help for Jo if he drove his car around another tree right now.

Parking as close to the entrance of the emergency area as he could, Dean was inside in no time, approaching the receptionist.

“Excuse me, I need to see Joanna Harvelle. She must have gotten here a few minutes ago.”

“Are you a relative?”

“I’m … yes. She’s having trouble with her pregnancy and I’m the kid’s father.”

“Are you her husband?”

“I’m sorry, what? Didn’t you listen, she’s pregnant with my child.”

“Sir, I’m sorry –”

“Dean!”

Dean turned around, seeking for the man he knew belonged to that voice. The moment he saw him, his heart did a weird little jump and he took a first step towards him. Then his mind caught up and reality came crashing back. This guy had played him. Had ripped his heart out and stomped on it. And because of that, Dean had gotten drunk again and Jo was now in the hospital, maybe losing their baby girl.

The guy had some nerves, being here at all!

Shoving his emotions aside and far, far away from him, Dean stepped over to the guy after all, not meeting his gaze directly as he focused on the hallway behind him.

“Where is she?”

“In the ER. There’s no news yet.”

Nodding, Dean silently followed Cas to the waiting area. As he opened the door he was surprised to see Jody there, just ending a phone call. When she saw him, her shoulders relaxed minutely and she came over to hug him. Dean, however, didn’t hug her back.

“Did you let Jo go and confront him?”

“Don’t even start with me, Dean Winchester,” Jody told him, still hugging him close and not letting him move an inch until he finally hugged her back. Only then did she release him. “You know as well as I do that she would have gone alone. So I thought it better to at least be by her side.”

A slight grumble was Dean’s only reply before he started to pace the room.

Jody let him breathe for a few seconds, before talking again.

“I just made a few calls. Donna will pick up Will from kindergarten and take him to the park so he won’t notice anything going on. You just need to call the school and let them know. And I called Sam. He’ll be here as soon as he can and so will be the _Hunters_.”

Dean only nodded to it all, still pacing the room, trying not to let his gaze wander to Cas. Or even his slimy friend – what was his name again? Zar? What kind of name was that? And what the hell was the ass doing here? He almost scoffed. The git. Had the audacity to call _him_ a cheating bastard. He should take a good look at his own friend.

Dean’s pacing and wandering thoughts only got interrupted when Jody’s hand landed on his chest, her body blocking him from moving further. “Dean, the school.”

“Right,” he replied, pulling out his phone to quickly make the call. He let the principal know what had happened and that Will was allowed to go home with Donna. Once the call ended, Dean was lost.

Jo was in mortal danger; they could lose their little girl; and the man he’d fallen for was a cheating bastard.

Not able to stop himself, Dean hurled his phone against the wall before breaking down into a chair, burying his face in his hands, completely sagging in on himself. He heard someone get up and then the door open and close, but he didn’t look up.

Seconds later, someone sat down next to him, and a hesitant hand was placed on his back. He wanted to shake it off the moment he realized who it was, the sweet scent of pie hitting his nostrils. But he was way too weak right now and he was craving the man’s touch. He could hate himself for that later.

“Balthazar is going to check,” Cas spoke in a soft voice that still held a note of roughness. “He’s a doctor here at the hospital. He’ll find a way to get an update.”

Either the git was really just that good and quick, or Dean and Cas sat like this for a very long time. Dean couldn’t tell. Either way, Cas’ hand only left him when the door opened again and Dean forced himself to look up.

Balthazar was breathing heavily, but he didn’t look like he was about to deliver bad news, so Dean counted that as a plus. “They have her stabilized for now and are still running tests on her. They do have a suspicion, but it’s too early on to tell.”

“What is it?” Cas asked before Dean could find the right words.

“They wouldn’t tell me. But the important thing is that for now, Jo and the baby are alright. They’re closely monitored and Jo is sedated to not put any more stress on her.”

Closing his eyes, Dean sighed in relief, taking a moment to calm all his thoughts.

Jo and his little girl were alright. For the moment, everything was okay.

Finally, he looked back at Balthazar. “I guess I won’t be able to see her?”

“No, sorry,” the man said and Dean noticed that he seemed to really mean it. “The doctors are still all around her and running one test after another. She’s asleep anyway. But they promised to let us know as soon as they had an update.”

“Okay,” Dean whispered in reply and his gaze went unfocused. He was simply staring ahead of him, trying not to let all his different emotions drive him insane.

Jo was alright.

Their little girl was alright.

But just for the moment. It could all change within a heartbeat.

And Cas was right next to him.

Turning his head, he looked at the man and was met with a gaze full of concern. Cas’ hand lay close enough for Dean to take … he could have just leaned into the man, let Cas comfort him, soothe him, take all the worries away from him.

He wanted that, so damn much – and he just couldn’t have it and he really -- he really couldn’t deal with this right now.

Instead, he got up, pacing the room again, trying not to think or worry about anything at all.

It was Jody who stopped his pacing once more. This time, he went into her arms willingly, letting her comfort him as he tried not to cry.

_Jo and the baby are alright for the moment. You need to trust the doctors to find what is wrong with them._

Dean needed a moment to realize that these weren’t his own thoughts but Jody’s words, whispered into his ear, calming his racing mind. She soothed him for a while longer, one encouraging word after another. He could feel himself calm down the longer she held him in her arms, the longer he had his face buried in her neck, breathing in her warm and soothing scent. It was then more than ever that he fully realized that after first his own mother’s death and then Jo’s mother’s death, it was Jody who had somehow taken over the role as mother without Dean even noticing. His grip became tighter around her for just a moment.

“Dean, there’s something you need to know.”

“Okay,” he whispered, trusting Jody fully. If she said he needed to know it right now, then that was the case.

He felt her lips move to his ear, so only he would hear her in the silent room. “Cas saw you and Jo yesterday and thought you were married.”

Dean’s eyes flew open wide and his first reaction was to pull away, but Jody had a death grip on him, probably fully anticipating his reaction. Not letting him go, she went right on.

“What he did last night was an act to protect his own heart. He didn’t cheat on you.”

Dean’s heart was threatening to jump out of his chest and he needed space. Space that Jody wouldn’t give him. That woman knew him way too well.

“You may think this isn’t the right time, but there’s nothing you can do for Jo or your baby right now. What you _can_ do is mend this. So that you have those troubled thoughts out of your head. That’s the best way you can help Jo right now.”

“Jody –”

“No,” she whispered back harshly. “Dean, I’m being serious. You’re suffering. And it’s not necessary. Clear this up. Make up with your man so he’ll be there to give you strength. Strength that you’ll then be able to give to Jo once she actually does need you.”

It sounded so easy when Jody said it like that.

Finally able to wind himself out of her embrace, Dean looked over at Cas. The man looked like a picture of misery, but his eyes were focused on Dean. When he caught his gaze, Cas sat up a bit straighter, his head tilted sideways, looking at Dean in question.

A soft but demanding hand pushed him in Cas’ direction and finally, Dean took a step towards him.

And another.

And another.

Soon, he was standing close enough not to have to speak loudly. “Is it true?”

Cas eyes flicked over to Jody, probably trying to understand what she had told him. Since he didn’t expect Cas to be a mind reader, he quickly clarified. “Is it true you didn’t cheat on me?”

Right away, Cas’ eyes filled with tears as he eagerly nodded.

Something inside of Dean uncoiled, letting him breathe more freely again.

And when he heard Cas’ small voice asking, “Can … we talk?” he simply nodded as well and turned towards the glass door that led into a small yard.

 


	11. Chapter 10: The Truth Will Set You Free

** Chapter 10: The Truth Will Set You Free **

 

As soon as they stepped outside, the fresh autumn weather surrounded them. A feeling of déjà vu washed over Dean, making it hard to breathe. This time, however, it was him that stopped after a few yards and turned to Cas. “Alright, talk.”

A sad smile flitted over Cas’ face, showing Dean that he as well saw the resemblance to their situation just a few short days ago. Only this time, it seemed both of them had gotten hurt.

“Cain is just a friend,” Cas blurted out right away.

“Sure didn’t look like it,” Dean replied, not able to simply believe it, even though he trusted Jody. “It’s also not what it sounded like.”

“I know. And I’m sorry now for doing it. But yesterday ... Dean, after seeing you with Jo … I was just so hurt.”

“And you didn’t think of at least asking?”

Sighing, Cas leaned his weight from one foot to another, obviously searching for the right words. “Look, this will need some explaining and probably a longer talk. I can understand if you can not do this right now.”

Dean nodded, thankful for Cas’ consideration. But Jody was right, this was exactly what Dean needed to do in this moment. “Cas, I’m scared shitless right now” – he saw Cas taking a tentative step at that admission, even his hand jerking a bit as if trying to reach for him. But the man caught himself quickly – “I’m driving myself crazy worrying about Jo and our girl. I ... I really can’t worry about us right now as well.”

“Dean, I get that, you don’t have to explain yourself. We can talk later –”

“No, Cas. What I meant was: if we don’t talk about it now and clear this up …” He couldn’t finish that sentence, but he saw understanding in Cas’ eyes and knew he didn’t have to. And since he trusted Jody he was even brave enough to admit: “Besides, it would really help me right now to have you by my side.”

This time, a real little smile tugged at Cas’ lips and he didn’t stop his hesitant hand as it reached for Dean’s.

Looking down at their intertwined hands, something inside of Dean calmed. He needed Cas. He still wanted him in his life, in his family’s life, and Dean knew they would clear all this up and get through it.

“Would you like to sit down?” Cas asked, nodding in the direction of a bench a few yards down the path. It was still close enough to the waiting room that he would be back inside should someone come to talk about Jo and their girl, so Dean nodded and hand in hand they walked over. They sat in silence for a minute, Cas’ thumb tentatively rubbing over the back of Dean’s hand where their fingers were still intertwined.

He started talking without any preamble.

“Inias, the guy that was bothering us with phone calls – he and I had been in a relationship for over two years. I’d met him right away when I moved to Chicago, but I was fresh out of my relationship with Bart.” Cas paused for a moment, sighing heavily, raking his free hand through his hair. “That guy is another story altogether, but to make it short, he’d been cheating on me countless times before I found out.”

Dean winced in sympathy but otherwise didn’t interrupt Cas.

“Anyway, I wasn’t ready for anything. Inias was a regular at the bakery I worked at, just like you. He would talk to me, flirt, we would laugh and generally just have pleasant conversation. We slowly became friends and I even met his brother – Chester, the guy you threw out the other day – and some of his friends. When he made a move a few months into our friendship, I jumped right into our relationship.”

There was another pause and Dean was sure Cas was seeing the past. Carefully squeezing his hand, Dean tried to keep Cas in the present, not wanting him to have to relive painful memories. Sending him a grateful smile, Cas squeezed back and continued.

“I guess in hindsight there were signs I simply ignored. It was different than with Bart but … still somehow the same, I don’t know. Well, about two years later I was running an errand in a different part of town. It was a busy street and while walking back to the car, I -- I saw him.”

Swallowing hard, Cas was quite obviously fighting with tears but before Dean could decide if he should pull him into his arms, Cas marched on.

“He was there with a woman and three children. Of course at first I didn’t think any of it – it could have been just anyone, right? But then I saw them holding hands and one of the kids turned around and asked him something, calling him Dad.”

Dean closed his eyes for a moment, it hurt so much. He knew that Jo, Will, and him must have been a similar picture.

“I stepped in their way and … the guy didn’t even blink, can you believe it? I mean, I guess he looked a bit shocked, but certainly not as much as you would think. And when I ask him what was going on, the woman asked him who I was. He said he had no idea, that he didn’t know me. I couldn’t believe it. Two years and the guy just denied even knowing me. I didn’t know what to do. Couldn’t even think straight. I guess I shouldn’t have done it in front of the kids, but I looked at the woman and told her that I was his boyfriend of two years.”

By now, some tears were freely running, yet Dean didn’t want to interrupt him. The words were tumbling out quickly by now, almost making it hard to get them all. However, Dean caught enough and when Cas’ voice hitched at that last word, he turned slightly so he had a better angle to Cas, and leaned into him. Letting go of their intertwined hands he took Cas’ hand right away again with his other hand, using his freed left one to put his arm around Cas and pull him close. When the man melted into the half embrace without any resistance, something warm settled inside of Dean.

“He just laughed,” Cas went on, his voice barely above a whisper, but still loud enough for Dean to hear. “Laughed and said ‘Honey, he’s crazy’. Then he went on, pretending like he recognized me after all – ‘aren’t you that guy from the bakery? The one that always gives me an extra treat?’ He was playing it off as if I was a crazy dude with a crush on a wealthy businessman. And his wife bought right into it. Told me to leave her husband in peace or they would call the police. His eldest son even kicked me in the knee as they passed by.”

Cas’ voice broke again and he slightly turned his head further into Dean’s embrace. Tightening his hold, Dean wished he’d chosen the other route with Cas, the “tell him right away and hope he won’t run”-one. But it was too late now.

“I’m so sorry, Cas.”

“When I saw you with Jo and your son –”

“It’s alright. I get it. I get it,” Dean reassured him, pressing a kiss to the top of Cas’ head.

They were quiet for a while, Cas still lying against his shoulder. He had no idea how much time had passed until Cas spoke again.

“I was so devastated, but also so, so sick of always being the guy that gets played. I know it was stupid to listen to Zar and Gabe’s plan, but … in that moment it sounded like the perfect idea. Like the only way to give you a taste of your own medicine. I’m sorry. God, I’m so, so sorry and I feel awful.”

Dean wouldn’t say that it was okay – because it wasn’t and because the words Cas’ had said still hurt – but he also didn’t let go of him.

“And the things you told me?”

“They were all lies. Dean, I want nothing more than to go steady with you. I love you and there hasn’t been anyone after Inias but you.”

Hiding his little grin in Cas’ hair, Dean closed his eyes for a moment, before he finally whispered: “I love you, too.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

It wasn’t until he heard the words from Dean’s lips that Cas realized he’d blurted them out in the middle of his little speech. Grinning slightly, he turned his head and looked up into Dean’s beautiful green eyes. He never wanted to see any pain in them again and Cas’ vowed to himself that he would make damn sure he wouldn’t ever be the reason for it again. Dean looked right back at him for a few heartbeats and when he leaned in hesitantly, Cas was all too willing to close the gap, their lips meeting in a soft touch.

They kept it short for now, still too many things between them. So before anything else would interrupt them this time, Cas made sure they got to the important question here. “It was Jo and your kids, right? This other secret you were keeping from me?”

When Dean nodded, Cas pulled back enough to be able to look at Dean and still be in his arms, their joined hands on their knees. Once they had rearranged themselves, Dean began to talk.

“I wasn’t exaggerating when I said that I have five failed relationships because of my situation. After Will was born, the first two guys I met heard about them very early on. I mean, it’s not like I said it right away, like ‘My name is Dean Winchester, I’m an Aquarius, and I have a son and still live under one roof with his mother’.”

They both chuckled slightly, but Dean sobered all too quickly, fascinating Cas with how much older he looked in these moments than he really was.

“But I told them after only a few dates – more common dates than our whole relationship has been,” he added, pressing his lips to Cas’ temple. “One of them told me flat out that he was not interested in a guy with a kid, the other one just didn’t return my calls or texts after that date and simply sent me a text one day saying he wasn’t ready for that. I mean, I get it, somehow. I was twenty-five back then, both guys I’d dated were younger than me. At that age, you don’t wanna be held down by a kid that’s not even yours.” Dean’s face was neutral, but his faraway look betrayed just how much thinking about the past hurt him. “I’d learned my lesson after that, and when I started dating again, the next guy didn’t hear about Will or Jo right away. Mike and I went on a few dates and quickly decided we wanted to go steady. It took me about two months after that to finally find the nerves and right words to tell him and … he was pissed. I tried to tell him about what had happened in the past but he didn’t care. Said he had no problem with me having a kid but that the trust was gone now. We tried for another week or so after that but I could feel how he kept a firm wall between us. So I ended it before it would hurt us even more. Mike didn’t even try to fight for us and I’m not holding it against him.”

Not saying anything, Cas let his thumb run soothingly over the back of Dean’s hand while the man took a moment to sort his thoughts. Somehow, he had a feeling that it got only worse after Mike.

“Next came Brady and this time I thought he would be a perfect match. He was a bit younger again, but during our first few dates, he talked about all his sweet little nephew and nieces and how much he liked kids. So I thought, now or never, and told him relatively early on. Brady seemed to have no problem with it. In hindsight, I think he just liked having sex with me.”

“Well, to be fair: sex with you _is_ amazing,” Cas threw in tentatively, relieved when his remark pulled a little huff of laughter from Dean. Pressing closer against the man, Cas stayed quiet so Dean could go on.

“After a few weeks, I introduced him to Will and Jo, and although he’d been reluctant before, I thought he was just nervous. Turned out he didn’t want to be with a young father after all. He ended our relationship that very night. Of course after I’d slept with him once more,” Dean added bitterly. There wasn’t just pain written in his expression this time, but also anger, and Cas could certainly understand that. He was sure it was a huge step for any parent to introduce a new partner to their kid and to be treated like that afterwards – he couldn’t fathom it.

It took Dean a moment before he could continue with the next candidate. “Aaron was my last try at dating before you and for the first few weeks, everything was perfect. He was a bit older, had no problems with kids, liked Will at first sight and the best thing was, Will liked him as well. I still don’t really know what the reason was, but after four months – two of which he’d known my son – he just ended it out of the blue. He didn’t even give me a real explanation, just some half-assed excuse of us not really fitting together. What really broke me with Aaron was …” Dean’s speech broke for a moment and he gulped a few times before he could go on: “ … was that Will had already gotten attached. I mean, he was only four back then and thankfully, he forgot about him soon after. But the first few days, he would ask when Aaron would play with him again. When I tried to explain it to him, he asked me -- asked me if _he_ had done something wrong and if it was _his_ fault Aaron had left.”

Cas bit his lip, not knowing how to react to that. It seemed his little whispered, “I’m sorry,” and his continued presence was enough. Dean nodded and went on.

“When I met you, I wasn’t planning on dating at all. This with us, it … it …”

“Kinda just happened?” Cas tried to help out and Dean chuckled slightly.

“Yeah, I guess that’s a good way to describe it. Unless you count watching movies on your couch or you seducing me with pie as a date, we haven’t even been on a real one yet.”

Cas grinned, having a feeling that Dean needed him to keep the tone of this conversation a bit lighter. “I like seducing you with pie.”

“You won’t see me complaining,” Dean replied, a real smile beginning to play around his lips for the first time since Cas had seen him today. It wasn’t quite there yet, but it was a good start.

The barely-there smile stayed while Dean looked down at their intertwined fingers. “It’s not like it was a conscious decision not to tell you about Will. Or the baby, for that matter. I just kinda … _missed_ the right moment to do so while we were still just friends and then suddenly it was too late. And I tried to tell myself that all I wanted from you was friendship because … I …”

Cas could see that Dean was having a hard time sorting his thoughts and finding the right words and he didn’t push him, giving the man the time he needed. When Dean spoke next, however, he seemed to be starting with a completely new topic.

“You should probably know one other thing about me. It’s … it’s usually not a problem, I think.” He stopped again, took a deep breath, and then pressed out: “When I was younger, I had a slight drinking problem.”

Cas looked up at that. Over all the trouble with Jo, he’d completely forgotten her last few words. _Because of you, he even started to drink again._

His eyes still fixed on their hands, Dean went on. “I mean, in my younger years it was the normal, stupid partying. But then it became a few drunken nights here and there whenever some emotional shit or even just work got too much. It all crashed after Mike. And I mean that literally. It wasn’t the first bad breakup I’d had, but God, the things that guy said to me.”

Swallowing hard, Cas tried not to think about the things he himself had said to Dean last night. He’d pushed him to drink again and he wished with all he had that he could turn back time. But since he couldn’t, he at least tried to keep his breathing under control to let Dean finish.

“I got drunk and drove my car against a tree.”

At that, Cas’ grip on Dean’s hand intensified, his second hand joining, as if he was able to hold Dean back from any more harm this way.

“Woke up in the hospital with a equally worried-crazy and silently-fuming Jo. Once the doctors said I was alright, she simply asked me if I really wanted to leave my then one-and-a-half year old son to grow up without a father. That did it and I haven’t touched any hard alcohol ever since.”

“Until last night,” Cas whispered when the silence after Dean’s story simply got too much.

Dean nodded, not even questioning how Cas knew. “At least I was careful enough to drive my car back home first. Didn’t make it any better when Jo and Jody found me this morning.”

“I’m sorry Dean. I’m so, so sorry.”

“I didn’t try to make a move earlier because I was scared for exactly this to happen.” When Cas winced, Dean was quick to clarify. “No, Cas, I’m not telling you this to hurt you or to say it’s your fault. I almost got back to drinking after Aaron left me, but I was able to resist. But with you … I knew I was falling for you way harder than I did for any of those guys before you. And I knew that -- that if it didn’t work out, it would crush me. And with Will, and Jo’s pregnancy … there was just too much at risk. _That’s_ why I tried to convince myself that friendship was all I would need from you.”

“And now everything has crashed after all and it’s all my fault,” Cas choked out, a few tears finally falling after all. “Dean, I’m sorry. I can’t even express how truly sorry I am.”

Without hesitation, Dean pulled him closer again. “I forgive you, Cas. And I can only hope you’ll forgive me too.”

“I do,” Cas reassured him right away, and when he saw Dean still looking worried, he knew it would take some time to fully convince the man. “Dean, I do.”

He wanted to say more. Hell, he wanted to _hear_ more from Dean, because there were still a few questions out in the open. But as seemed to be the rule with their relationship, before they could finish their conversation, they got interrupted. This time in the form of a door opening and Sam taking a step outside, spotting them right away. He didn’t even have to call for them, their eyes immediately drawn to the door and both of them jumping up the moment they saw Dean’s brother.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Back inside, the waiting room had filled while Cas and Dean had been talking. Almost all of the _Hunters_ , as well as the rest of Dean’s family were here now. And although Dean was grateful for their support, right now he only had eyes for the doctor close to the door.

“How’s Jo? Is our baby alright?” he asked without any preamble, pulling the doctor’s attention away from the files in his hands.

At least the man was looking relaxed, and Dean counted that as the first good sign. “Miss Harvelle is doing fine and so is the baby.” The relief washing through the room was palpable and Dean felt himself relax as well. The steady hand on his back spreading warmth through his very core was a very welcome presence.

“So, have you found anything?”

“Well, we’ve actually found quite a bit,” – Dean’s eyes went wide and instantly, panic washed over him, but the doctor held up his hand right away – “but nothing too threatening or worrisome. Would you …” Letting his eyes sweep the room for a moment, the doctor went back to looking at Dean before he continued. “Would you rather we speak in private?”

“No. This is Jo’s family and we will all do what we can to help her.” He could see some people nodding, but kept his focus on the doctor.

The man went on without any fuss. “Alright then. Like I said, there is not just _the one problem_ Miss Harvelle is having with this pregnancy. All taken by itself it shouldn’t have been an issue, but combined, it’s taking a toll on her strength. Starting with the scare back in the first trimester, to the cold Miss Harvelle caught, the slight fever she was running these past few days – it’s all just coming together.”

“So what are you treating her for right now?” Balthazar jumped in, sounding professional and calming Dean’s nerves somehow.

The doctor looked at his colleague to answer him. “We mostly have her on fluids for the moment and mild medication against the pain. We also continue to have her sedated so her body can rest. And we started treating against low potassium.” When Balthazar seemed appeased by that, the doctor turned back to Dean and went on. “As you can imagine we ran quite a few tests on Miss Harvelle and there are some things we need to treat her for over the next weeks. For one, she has low potassium, probably why she felt so weak the other day. We also saw first signs for Gestational diabetes but we’ll have to run tests on that one again.”

Dean’s head was spinning with all these words and possibilities and, searching for help, he looked over to where Zar was standing. Cas’ friend was quick to jump in and reassure him. “That’s all easily treatable, Dean. There’s nothing to worry about. I guess, as my colleague just said: it’s all piling up and that’s what is giving Jo a hard time.”

“Exactly,” their doctor affirmed. “Trust us, Mr. Winchester: all these things are perfectly easy to treat once they’re found.”

“So why haven’t they been found before? Jo was here just two days ago.”

“Not every blood test is run for the same results. What I can see from her medical file is that my colleague run all the usual test and they showed no real anomaly. Now with Jo being back and with Doctor Roché’s input on what had happened,” – he nodded in Balthazar’s direction – “we expanded the test-runs. It’s why it took a bit longer, but here we are now. We’ll keep searching, see that we found everything, and then make sure to treat Miss Harvelle accordingly.”

When Dean didn’t reply right away, Cas spoke up for the first time. “Thank you, Doctor Bacic. Is she in her own room by now?”

“Yes. Room 207. But like I said, she’s sedated.”

“Could Dean still see her? Just for a few minutes?”

The doctor heaved a sigh, but finally nodded. “However, I would ask you not to stay tonight. Miss Harvelle really needs her rest and you’ll help her much more if you go home, rest up, and then come back tomorrow. I would like to keep her here for at least a few days until we have checked all her levels and started treatment for what we have found.”

Dean wasn’t happy about the thought of leaving Jo alone, but sometimes even he could see reason. At the very least, Jo would need some things while staying here, and he would be able to bring her everything in the morning after a good night’s sleep.

Turning towards his big family, Dean nodded towards them, silently telling them how much he appreciated them being here. It was Charlie that spoke for them all: “You go on, we’ll wait here until you come back. Tell Jo hi from us.”

“Okay. I’ll be back soon.”

He sent a last glance back to Cas before leaving the waiting room and making his way up to the second floor and Jo’s room.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title from the Bible: John 8:32


	12. Chapter 11: Kings of Hearts

** Chapter 11: Kings of Hearts **

 

Dean returned to the waiting room after only twenty minutes, grumbling about the head nurse asking him to leave Jo at peace now. Not even his objection that visiting hours were far from being over had convinced her to show mercy, as he told them. At least Jo seemed to be alright. She’d been asleep, just as Doctor Bacic had said, and Cas could tell that Dean’s worries had mostly eased just from seeing her, the man much calmer now.

Then the big departure started. Dean’s family and friends all hugged him or at least patted his shoulder or back. Balthazar promised Dean to keep an eye on Jo every time he would be on shift, and Cas had a slight feeling that his friend felt partly guilty. He should probably tell Zar that it wasn’t his fault Cas had gone through with his stupid plan, and that he couldn’t have known how the confrontation in the bakery would affect Jo’s pregnancy. But he knew the man way too well to even bother. Zar would just laugh it off and pretend like he didn’t feel guilty about anything he’d done in his life.

Once it came down to just Jody, Sam, Eileen, Dean, and himself, Cas realized that he had no idea where to go from here. On the one hand, he didn’t want to leave Dean alone. On the other hand, he didn’t want to suffocate him with his presence. Besides, Dean was probably going to pick up Will from his adventure in the park very soon and if he’d taken anything from their earlier talk at all, then that it would still be awhile until Dean would introduce them. It was Jody who breached the topic.

“Dean, do you want either of us to take Will? Or do you want your son with you tonight?”

Dean’s hand raked through his hair, his thoughts quite clearly racing inside of him again for just a moment. In the end, he shook his head. “I don’t want Will to know about this for now. He would want to see his Mom right away and he would worry himself sick, just like last time.” When the other three adults nodded in understanding, Cas was sure they were referring to the scare Jo had in the first trimester.

“Alright,” Sam agreed without hesitation. “He can stay with us then. I guess he’s used to staying with us enough to not question it.”

This time, it was Dean’s turn to nod. “I’ll call Donna then, talk to Will and let him know he has a fun night with Uncle Sammy and Aunt Eileen ahead of him.” Reaching for his back pocket, Dean came up empty, and surprised, he patted down his pockets.

“Uh, yeah,” Sam said, clearing his throat and pulling something from his own pocket. It was Dean’s broken phone. “Looking for this?”

“Ah, damn.”

“I’ll get you a new one while picking up Will. Don’t worry about it.”

Jody was quick to hand Dean her own phone and while Dean turned around to make his call, the woman came over to Cas. Swallowing hard, he prepared for whatever she had to say to him.

“Have you talked it all out?”

Well, her motherly concern was certainly not what he had expected, but Cas nodded nevertheless. “Mostly, yes. The important stuff is cleared up.”

“Good,” Jody replied and a warm smile spread over her lips. “Because Dean will need you today. And in the days to come.”

He’d been prepared for her wrath, but not for her obvious support and even encouragement. Cas had no idea what to reply to that and it seemed he didn’t need to as Jody touched his lower arm in a tender gesture.

“You’re good for him, Cas. Don’t give up on him and please don’t push him away.”

“I -- I’m not planning to.”

“Good,” she said again, and then leaned in to whisper into his ear. “And if you ever hurt him again – him or Jo or either of the kids – just remember who Dean works with.”

Gulping, Cas nodded, the words stuck in his throat. When Jody leaned back, the warm smile was back as she patted his cheek and then turned around to collect her phone from Dean.

_Are all women in Dean’s life as scary as Jody and Jo?_

Cas stayed rooted to the spot while Dean said goodbye to the rest of his family. Once they were alone in the waiting room, Dean turned back to him. For a moment, Cas saw the slight hesitation in Dean’s eyes. He didn’t like it, not one little bit. As he reached for Dean, the gesture seemed all the man had needed. Closing the gap, Dean was in his arms right away, sighing deeply as he buried his face in Cas’ neck.

Letting the minutes pass, Cas was content with just holding Dean as close as he could, thanking the angels above that all their misunderstandings had finally been resolved. The way Dean let him see this vulnerable side of him, let Cas hold him and give him strength – Cas knew that they were already past the worst and heading towards a happy end.

Their peaceful bubble was only broken when the door opened and another big family entered the waiting room, some of them in tears while others tried to be strong. No desire to stay here any longer, Cas took Dean’s hand and pulled him out of the room, into the hallway, and in the direction of the exit. As they left the hospital, Cas was actually surprised that it was still light outside. Checking his phone, he found it was only shortly after six in the evening.

“Do you need to get back to the bakery?” Dean asked, sending a worried glance towards Cas’ phone.

Putting it back into his pocket, Cas shook his head. “No, was just checking the time. It’s still early evening. Would you -- would you like to do something to keep your mind off of …” Not sure how to finish, Cas just gestured in the general direction of the hospital.

Dean shrugged. “Actually, I’m rather beat. This whole day has been a clusterfuck. I don’t think I’ll be good company for any outing or party tonight.”

Cas tried not to let his disappointment show. Dean needed time alone and he could understand that. However, Dean wasn’t done talking.

“But if you don’t mind me being a bit moody and not the best of company …”

Peeking up at that, Cas searched Dean’s face for any sign, making sure Dean was saying what he thought Dean was saying. When he was sure of it, Cas nodded. “I would love to keep you company.”

Smiling a real smile at last, Dean tugged at Cas’ hand and together they made their way over to the parking lot.

 

~*~

 

A comfortable silence surrounded them for the majority of the car ride, Cas just content with being close to Dean. The feeling appeared to be mutual, as Dean was holding his hand, absentmindedly letting his thumb brush over the skin. He seemed relaxed despite the last few hours.

Not knowing where Dean lived, Cas had no idea how close they were to their destination when Dean began to talk after all, right out of the blue.

“My parents died shortly before my fifth birthday.”

Cas looked up at that and at Dean but stayed quiet.

“Sammy was just six months old when our house caught fire. The last thing I remember of my parents is my father pressing this little bundle in my arms, yelling for me to get out, before rushing back into the fire in Sam’s nursery to get my mom. I ran outside and waited, but neither of them followed.”

Dean’s voice didn’t waver and the brush of his thumb kept steady. There wasn’t the slightest indication that he was still haunted by these memories, but maybe he’d just buried it so deeply over the years.

“Jo’s parents, Ellen and William Harvelle, took us in. They were my parent’s closest friends and also our godparents and, well, they had the money to raise two additional kids. Jo’s just a few months younger than me and the three of us grew up like siblings. In some ways, Jo and I are closer than I am even with Sam.”

A smile played around Dean’s lips as he was talking about Jo and Cas found it warmed his heart. He understood now why the two of them were so close. On the other hand …

“But,” Cas began, trying to find the right words. “Not to sound weird, but if she’s like a sister to you, how …?”

“Ah, yeah. Well, I’m getting there,” Dean said, an unreadable expression on his face. At least he didn’t seem angry for Cas asking such an intimate question.

As he turned his car into a street that led to one of the better parts of Lawrence, he went on with his tale. “When Jo and I were fifteen, we lost William to a heart attack; when we were nineteen, Ellen was -- was killed.” He had to clear his throat, and it told Cas all he needed to know. Ellen was the mother whose death still tore at him. “She was in the wrong place at the wrong time, a bank robbery gone wrong.” Swallowing hard, Dean cleared his throat once more and then went on. “Jo, Sam, and I inherited everything the Harvelle’s had in equal parts, Ellen never making a difference between us. For her, family never ended in blood. Since Jo and I were both of age, Sam was allowed to stay with us until he left for college in California. Jo tried with college here in Kansas for a while, but when I took over the _Hunters_ she quickly joined me.”

Cas couldn’t hold in the little chuckle and when Dean looked at him, he explained: “I can see her being a badass _Hunter_. I feared for my friends’ lives today as she went at them.”

“Yeah, that’s Jo,” Dean replied with a proud and fond little smile.

Before he went on with the story, Dean pulled into a driveway and pressed a button to open the gates. Instantly, Cas’ jaw dropped. “This is your _house_? Just how much do you earn as a PI?”

“Well, this is the old Harvelle home. We just inherited it,” Dean explained, the mirth over Cas’ reaction apparent in his voice. While he navigated the Impala towards the garage, he pointed to the house – or rather the _mansion_ – standing there. “Jo’s mostly living on the eastern side, my part is mostly the area in the west, but the lines are kinda blurred. Now with the pregnancy, I’ve moved into a room closer to Jo in case she needs me.”

Cas was still kind of speechless, but as Dean pulled up into the garage, he still asked: “What about Sam?”

“Eh, Sam wasn’t interested in living here, so Jo and I paid him off with some of the money Ellen had left us. He used it for college and getting his fancy degree, so I guess it was worth it.”

When they entered the house through the garage, Cas was immediately surrounded by a warm feeling of a homey atmosphere. There were pictures all around of Jo and Dean’s friends and family; toys were lying around; some magazines and books strewn over little side tables. It was still tidy, but it looked more like a house a happy family lived in than a mansion from a glossy magazine.

Cas loved it.

“Are you hungry?” Dean asked, already walking in the direction Cas suspected the kitchen to be.

Following him, Cas nodded. “Actually, yes. I haven’t had anything since my breakfast this morning.”

“Well, that’s more than I had. Just two coffees for me,” Dean replied, opening the fridge. “How does reheated homemade lasagna sound?”

While they waited for the microwave to do its job, Dean got them both some soda out of the fridge and handed one to Cas, who was leaning against the counter.

“Now,” Dean said, taking a sip of his Coke. “I guess we’ve reached the question that’s interesting you the most: how did Will happen when Jo and I are like siblings? The answer is pretty easy and a version our son will never, ever find out.” Putting his soda can on the counter next to Cas, he puttered about the kitchen, got them both some plates and silverware out, all while continuing to talk. “It involves Jo’s deepest wish of having as many children as this house has rooms; two very fresh break-ups that lead to us suffering together on the couch and watching Nicholas Sparks movies; the anniversary of Ellen’s death that let to us drinking copious amounts of alcohol while still suffering on the couch; and one very hazy conversation of which the only thing Jo and I remember is something along the lines of, ‘Dean, why can’t men be more like you?’, and, ‘I should probably try dating women again’.”

“That sounds … intense,” was all Cas could come up with, wondering if Dean would be mad if he would start laughing hysterically.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Dean’s melodic chuckle. “Well, I have no idea how ‘intense’ it was after that. The next thing either of us remembers is waking up the next morning in her bed, both of us naked but thankfully covered. To this day, it’s still my most embarrassing memory, trust me. And all Jo did was to look at me, groan, and then she said: ‘well, I hope they’ll get your looks’.”

At that, Cas finally broke into laughter and Dean joined him while he put two big pieces of lasagna on their plates. Taking Dean’s soda can, he joined the man at the table, both of them enjoying a few bites before Dean continued.

“The most awkward talk I ever had followed about two months later when we’d just found out that Jo was indeed pregnant. Sam was home for just a week and we had to tell him that he would be an uncle soon – through both of us.” Chuckling, Dean seemed to relive those memories for a moment. “I think I’ll never forget the green color in his face when he finally realized what that meant. If I remember correctly, the word incest was dropped at least twice.”

“Well, that’s taking it a bit far, is it not?” Cas asked when Dean didn’t go on, instead taking a big bite of his dinner.

Once he’d swallowed, he shook his head. “No, Sam was totally right. It certainly felt kinda like that. To this day I’m happy we were too drunk to remember anything at all. The thought alone …” Dean stopped talking and shuddered instead.

“Which begs the question about Jo’s second pregnancy,” Cas prompted.

“Well, easy: fertility clinic. I donated my sperm, the clinic did the rest, _boom_ , pregnant Jo.”

“Seriously?” Cas asked, eyes wide in surprise. “That’s all? You didn’t even …”

“Do the horizontal tango again?” Dean helped him find the words, chuckling when Cas nodded. “Cas, trust me: I love to cuddle with Jo, I sleep in her bed when she needs someone to hold her, and I know we’re more affectionate with each other than probably even some couples are. But I wouldn’t touch her _that way_ with a ten-foot pole ever again.”

Trying to hide his grin, Cas mumbled out a, “Good to know,” before taking the last bite of his lasagna. Yet, there was one question nagging him and he could only hope Dean wouldn’t be offended. “May I ask … why? I mean …”

Thankfully, Dean chuckled, no trace of him maybe being offended. “Why not? Like I said, Jo has always dreamed of a house full of kids. Unlike me, she hasn’t tried dating in years, and she’s rather content with being a single mom instead of waiting for Mr. Right. Plus, Will has been asking us for a little sister since he turned three and his best friend got a little sibling. So between that and the fact that I love kids, especially my own … I was happy to say yes when Jo asked me.”

Just one look into Dean’s dreamy face was enough to tell Cas that the man spoke the truth and it really warmed his heart. The warm feeling only intensified when Dean’s eyes met his and the man sent him a loving gaze. There were still some shadows of sorrow edged into Dean’s expression, yet Cas accounted it to his worry about Jo and the baby.

Soon, Dean was done with his dinner as well but instead of taking their plates to clean up, he took Cas’ hand. “Thank you. For being here with me.”

“There’s nowhere I’d rather be,” he replied truthfully, hoping it didn’t sound too cheesy. And even if it did, he didn’t care.

It seemed Dean didn’t either, as he pulled Cas’ hand to his lips and kissed his knuckles before holding it close with both of his hands. “I think I would have gone insane if I had to be here alone. So thank you.”

They sat in silence for a moment, probably both not really knowing how to proceed from here. It wasn’t even eight, but Dean looked beat. When the man wasn’t able to hold back a yawn, Cas leaned forward and touched his cheek. “Dean, if you wanna go to bed, please do so. Don’t think you have to stay awake for me. I can call a cab to get home.”

“Actually,” Dean replied, his eyes moving rapidly over Cas’ face. “I thought you would maybe, kinda … stay?”

Pleasantly surprised, Cas smiled at Dean. “I didn’t want to impose, but yes. Yes, I would like that very much.”

His reply got him a smile in return and together, they quickly cleaned up their dinner before Dean pulled him towards the staircase. On the landing, Dean turned left to what Cas assumed was the west side and therefore Dean’s part of the house. His room was just like the rest of the house: mostly tidy, yet clearly lived in; homely with a strong touch of _Dean_. Cas could see some CDs on the shelves, some books here and there, pictures of friends and family. The king-size bed was neatly made.

“Ehm, sorry for it not being that tidy,” Dean said, picking up some shirts from a chair to the side and throwing them in a hamper. “Like I said, I’m not really living in this room right now.”

“Dean.” Stopping the man from trying to clean up some more, Cas pulled him into a loose embrace. “It’s fine. And it’s very you. I like it.”

Dean looked at him for just a moment, before closing his eyes and leaning in. The kiss was sweet and more comforting than heated. More of a reassurance than a prelude to more. Until this moment, Cas hadn’t even realized how much he’d craved it. When the kiss ended, they held on to each other for a little while longer, and once again Cas noticed how much he loved the feeling of Dean’s embrace.

“I think I’m going to call Sam real quick, tell Will goodnight.”

“You do that,” Cas replied, carefully entangling himself. “Do you need my phone?”

“We have a landline, but thank you.”

Before he went back downstairs, Dean showed him the bathroom and put out a shirt and some boxer shorts for him.

The shirt smelled just like Dean, and even though he hadn’t slept in his bed for a while now, it also still held the scent of the man. Cas closed his eyes for a moment and snuggled into the pillow, before turning onto his back and staring at the roof, waiting for Dean. Soon enough he heard footsteps on the stairs and then the closing of the bathroom door.

Looking over towards the window, Cas stared at the last dim light of the day. And, Jesus, what a day it had been. He still couldn’t believe all that had happened and the things he’d learned in just those short few hours.

Soon enough, the bedroom door closed.

“Will is happy and excited about his spontaneous sleepover,” Dean told him while walking over to the closet, getting changed as well. “And I even called the hospital and got the lovely nurse to check in on Jo for me. She’s still sleeping peacefully and all her vitals are normal, and so are the baby’s.”

“That’s fantastic, Dean,” Cas replied, smiling when Dean came over and slipped into bed next to him without hesitation. In one smooth move, Dean’s arms wound around Cas’ torso while he buried his face into Cas’ chest, pulling him close and inhaling a deep breath.

“I’ve missed you so damn much. I’m not ever going to let go of you.”

“I’ll hold you to it,” Cas replied, winding his arms around Dean’s shoulders, and intertwining their legs, pulling him even closer. Putting a soft kiss to his head first, he rested his cheek there, and with a content sigh, he whispered: “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Dean whispered back, making Cas’ heart jump.

When Dean snuggled even closer into his warmth, Cas could feel how they both relaxed and melted into each other’s embrace. Maybe not everything was perfect just yet. But as Cas was holding his man in his arms while Dean’s breathing slowly evened out, he couldn’t help but feel blissfully content. They could worry about the world tomorrow and they would face it together. For now, though, the world had to wait as he followed Dean into the land of dreams.

 

~*~*~*~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Edit, please read:** I've got some comments telling me to tag this poly or Jo/Dean.  
>  I really, really don't mind getting comments that show critique, I actually like them because most of the times they're helpful :) and I promise you'll always get a reply because I think the only way for me to grow as a writer is to hear my readers out.  
> But please, please stop telling me to tag this fic as something that it simply isn't.
> 
> _On the poly tag_  
>  Let me give you the definition from Urban Dictionary. I choose this because it's the shortest version I could find that still holds all the important details:  
> " **Polyamory**  
>  The practice, state or ability of having more than one _sexual_ loving relationship at the same time, with _**the full knowledge and consent**_ of _all_ partners involved.  
>  This is the definition used by California polyamorist Morning Glory Zell, who coined the term in the early 1980's. Polyamory differs from adultery because _all the partners know_ about each others' lovers, so there is _not secrecy or betrayal_."
> 
> Personally, I think this speaks for itself, but let's go over the fic again:  
> 1\. Dean and Jo both clearly state that they are not a couple!  
> 2\. Dean and Jo (accidentally) had sex once and Dean clearly states he would never touch Jo that way ever again.  
> 3\. Dean doesn't tell Cas about Jo at first. If Dean/Jo were a poly couple, he would break one of their major rules. The other way around: Dean also keeps Cas a secret from Jo at first. Again, that would be a major breach of trust IF they were in a (poly) relationship.  
> 4\. Not once does either Dean or Jo even hint at being in a poly relationship, meaning if they were, they would betray Cas, which is also a no-go for poly couples.
> 
> I might have forgotten a point but I think this is already enough to show that this is, in fact, **not** a poly ship. And if it's still not enough, the fact that Dean and Jo themselves state that they're not in a relationship should be ;)
> 
> _On the Dean/Jo tag_  
>  Basically the same: Dean and Jo both clearly mean it when they say they aren't in a relationship. Do I play with it in the beginning? Of course I do, I wanted my readers to be irritated :) that's what the "no cheating" tag was for. But if I would tag this Dean/Jo - I would lie. Because the Dean/Jo tag would mean they're a couple, and they're simply not.  
> Are they emotionally close? Yes! Yes, they are. Is Dean too invested with Jo to be with Cas? No!  
> As one of my readers put it so nicely: Dean and Cas' relationship has just begun, of course it still needs to grow (that's what the sequel will be there for :) ). But the mere fact that Dean left the waiting room while Jo's fate was still not sure, just so he could mend things with Cas - for me, that shows that he is already really deeply invested with Cas. That's his baby and his best friend inside, fighting for their lives, yet he still goes outside to clear things up with Cas? Sorry, but I don't see how some people think he's only dedicated to Jo.
> 
> _On tags in general_  
>  I'm sorry if all this sounds a bit harsh. I assure you I'm calm as can be while writing this :) because as I said I do appreciate every single comment as long as it's not outright mean or hurtful (which no comment has been so far, and for that, I'm really thankful <3 ). I'm just explaining all this so there won't be any more confusion about it. And again, I'll always reply to all the comments, so if after this you still feel the need to tell me that you think I should tag it a certain way, please don't hesitate and we can talk about it. But please understand that it irritates me to get requests to tag my fic a certain way that would clearly be wrong and misleading.  
> Think about it this way: tags are not only there for warnings. Their main purpose is actually for people to find fics. I've done some research: there are currently 322 fics with tags for Polyamory + Dean/Cas. 583 fics right now have the relationship tag for Dean/Jo (and most of these are "past Dean/Jo" or have Destiel as endgame). To give you a number to compare: as of now, there are 68421 fics for Dean/Cas and we all know this number is growing every day.  
> Now, imagine someone waiting/searching for another Destiel poly or a Jo/Dean fic. Imagine that person finding my fic and reading it. What do you think they would tell me in the end? Because it's clear that Dean and Cas are/will be endgame - and I mean only Dean and Cas. Of course, Jo will always be a part of Dean's life, but so will be his kids and Sam and the Hunters. That doesn't mean his heart doesn't belong to Cas :)
> 
> I really hope this cleared it all up a bit <3 the sequel will start right the next morning, and I promise there will be more talk about all this. I really hope to have you back when we get there :) <3  
> Love  
> your noxsoulmate

**Author's Note:**

> There we go ... for now ;)
> 
> Obviously, I already have some ideas for the sequel - but I would love to hear what you would like to see :) are there any storylines you feel need more exploring? Any characters you would love to see more of? I'm still at the beginning of plotting the next part, so I'm open for suggestions and wishes  
> What I can tell you already is this:  
> \- we will set back in shortly after the end of this story, so yes, Jo will still be pregnant :)  
> \- I'm planning on revisiting topics that have started and may or may not have been concluded in this first part _*cough*Inias*cough*_  
>  \- yes, of course Cas will meet Dean's son :)  
> Everything else is still up for debate, so just let me know what you think <3
> 
> PS: I always forget to do this, so I'm quite proud of myself to finally remember: yes, I do have a [tumblr](https://noxsoulmate.tumblr.com/) ^^" I'm not _that_ active there, but I do plan on maybe giving sneak peeks of future fics or maybe start taking prompts or requests. I'm not sure yet, but I'm always happy to hear from other Destiel fans  <3


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